The Department of Statistics (STAT) reports that the household listing survey is progressing well, however is making a special appeal to the country’s affluent communities to also cooperate with the interviewers and be counted.
The entire Sint Maarten community, including gated communities/condominium complexes are encouraged to extend their full cooperation with STAT interviewers, in order for this basic information to be gathered from all residents on the island.
The success of this survey and its outcome can only be guaranteed through the participation of all rather than some.
25 interviewers for the past two weeks have been visiting addresses throughout the country. STAT urges the entire community to participate and ensure that each person within your household is accounted for within the survey.
STAT continues to emphasize to the general public, that all data gathered is handled confidentially, and is being collected for statistical purposes. Persons should not fear having their personal data handed over to Immigration officials as this will not be the case.
Also important is that this exercise will assist both STAT and the Civil Registry Department to explain the large gap that currently exists between its population figures. An accurate population size of Sint Maarten is crucial for policy making in the coming years.
STAT will provide the Civil Registry Department, with only the basic information needed for a comparison to be made with their registry, for the purpose of updating and cleaning the database of registered persons.
STAT falls under the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunication.
PHOTO CUTLINE: A STAT interviewer getting basic data from a resident and putting it into his IPad. The interview only takes a few minutes.