Moldovan authorities to finish processing of data on population, housing census till late 2016

Chisinau, 28 July /MOLDPRES/ - Participants in a meeting of the National Commission for Population and Housing Census, chaired by Prime Minister Pavel Filip, today discussed the way the data of the 2014 Population and Housing Census (RPL) is processed and possibilities to finish this process in the terms set, the government’s communication and media relations department has reported.    

Attending the meeting were representatives of the competent ministries, civil society, development partners and experts in the sector.

In the beginning of the event, the PM showed optimism about the processing of RPL data on term, by actions previously undertaken and efforts made by authorities. “I hope that the things have got back to normal and we will move faster. At the last meeting, we approved a calendar plan with the finishing of the introduction and validation of data till 31 December 2016, and its publication in the first quarter of 2017,” Pavel Filip said.   

The participants in the meeting were informed on efforts taken by the National Statistics Bureau (BNS) in processing and validation of RPL data. Thus, more than 50 per cent of all questionnaires, which are updated once in two weeks, were introduced and encoded. The 8.2-million-lei budget, planned for 2016, was used at a level of 30 per cent. At the same time, the Commission members were informed on procedural actions, which will enhance the efficiency of processing of statistic data; this will increase the degree of reliability in their use by interested institutions.    

In this context, the prime minister stressed the importance to permanently inform the public and of transparency in this process. “If this exercise is not transparent, it makes o sense; therefore, we put emphasis on this transparency from the very beginning. It is important that we call the things by their names, even if this is painful. It was necessary that we undertake these actions to see how the things are in reality, to find solutions and move further,” Pavel Filip noted.    

The PM voiced confidence that, by joint efforts, with the support of foreign experts, the authorities would manage to finish the processing of RPL data in the established terms, as this information is really useful for the authorities in developing policies documents. At the same time, the prime minister emphasized that the census data was to be collected electronically, which is much faster and efficient.   

(Editor A. Raileanu)