Census 2010 accurate and comprehensive: Al Shurooqi

Date 14 May 2010

The census that’s being carried out in the Kingdom is "accurate and comprehensive" and will help the authorities in framing development plans for Bahrain in future, said Huda Al Shurooqi.

The director of the demographic, environmental, and social statistics administration at the Central Informatics Organization (CIO) revealed this to the radio programme "Radar" on 98.4.

The programme was dedicated to Census 2010, especially to spread awareness and educate residents on the importance of the national project. Huda Al Shurooqi said government authorities cannot draw up developmental plans without knowing the real demographic status of their country.

"Citizens are the first beneficiaries of the authorities to frame developmental plans with an eye on reality. The Ministry of Health can implement service projects or expand medical facilities better if it knows the needs of the population, and the census will help in this regard, "she said.

On the mechanism of the 2010 census, Al Shurooqi explained that the population, houses and institutions data will be provided based on administrative records available with the ministries and government authorities. As for the unavailable data, it will be estimated through a family and field survey, which will be a random sample from the five governorates. The programme will gauge citizens' awareness of the importance of census, in addition to recording an interview with a family member. The official confirmed that "every data collected will be kept confidential".