SPEECH TO CENSUS 2001 ENUMERATORS AND SUPERVISORS
Speech Delivered by the Director of Planning, Mr.
Otto O'Neal at the
Opening of Training Sessions for Enumerators and Supervisors
of the 2001 Census on 28th March 2001
Deputy Director of Planning and the rest of the temporary staff of the
Development Planning Unit, as your Director I am here to give you some
broad instructions, some words of encouragement, to remind you of your
responsibilities, to tell you about the importance of your exercise and
also to share the expectations that I have of you.
You have been employed for this exercise because of some particular
skills, experience or competence we assumed you have by virtue of
experience, tenure and occupation. But let me tell you that the Population
and Housing Census 2001 is one of the most critical exercises in planning
for the future of the BVI. The information which comes out of this
exercise is equal in worth to all other policy and planning instruments
coming out of the Executive and Legislative Councils. This exercise has no
politics or bureaucratic spin, it will just deliver the facts as you
report them.
This exercise is expensive and the people of the BVI will be looking for
value for money. And of course, the value for money objective is my
responsibility and I will be held accountable in this regard. The Deputy
Director of Planning is in charge of this exercise and I have every
confidence in his ability to get the job done. Please give him your full
co-operation.
I ask you to be kind, courteous and professional in your approach to the
people you enumerate. Please remember that you will be in their castles in
prime time and you are therefore asked to honour them.
We will train and empower you to retrieve the information from the public.
You are chosen to be an employee because we think you have the skills
required. Some of you have done this exercise before and are aware of the
challenges. Please help your co-workers, and I to encourage you to try
your best to do a good job.
As we continue, let me remind you that you are an employee of the
Government of the British Virgin Islands and as such you will be held to
the standards of all other public servants in the eyes of the public. You
will be asking people some of the most personal and private questions ever
in your life. You are responsible to be complete, accurate and truthful in
your work.
This is an important exercise because our country is changing and many
policies and strategies, by both government and the private sector, during
the next decade, will be dependent on the quality of the work you do as
enumerators and supervisors.
As Director of Planning and Statistics I expect each and everyone of you
to do a good and complete job. I expect value for money as we will be
compensating you. We expect you to take pride in this exercise as this is
our country and we have already set high standards for ourselves.
May God guide you and bless you with the satisfaction you will have gained
from participating in this great exercise of such national significance.
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