Census delay could affect elections: Electoral Commission

PAPUA New Guinea Electoral Commission officials are worried that the delay in the 2010 housing and population census will affect the commission’s preparations for the 2012 general election, The National reports.

Commission officials said the delay would affect the electoral update, common roll and other data needed by the commission to  conduct the general election.

Electoral commissioner Andrew Trawen could not be reached for comments yesterday but his office said he would be making a media statement today to outline the full implication of the delay in the 2010 national census.

The census was originally scheduled to start on July 11 but census director Kit Ronga announced on Monday that the census had been deferred to next year.

Ronga cited various logistics problems, including funding, as contributing to the need for the deferral although much of the work had been done.

To date, less than half of K66 million released by the Department of National Planning has been  made available to the National Statistical Office.

The last national census was held in 2000.

Since then, the population has grown rapidly, but it is unclear what the actually annual growth rate is.

Some place it at 6%, which was higher than economic growth rate until the commodity boom pushed the economic growth rate up.

The director of PNG’s Institute of National Affairs, Paul Barker, told Radio New Zealand that delaying the census adds more worry that PNG would not run a free and fair election.