Census mop-up continues

NATIONAL census director Hajily Kele says counting for all provinces, including the National Capital District is continuing under the mop-up exercise, The National reports.

"Enumeration is still going on everywhere in PNG.

"The official counting week was from July 11 to 17 but we have allowed for a mop-up exercise for this week and next week to allow interviewers to complete their workloads," Kele said.

She said a few places around the country had actually completed the head count on time but she did not have details of those areas.

"The provinces that have completed the counting are now refining the census pads, doing quality checks and will be handing in their summary pads soon," Kele said.

She said everything should be completed by next week and all census materials must be in by the end of this month.

"The preliminary figures may be released towards the end of this year or next year depending on how long the process will take to do data entry."

NCD officials have confirmed that the mop-up exercise for the nation's capital was going on and that many city residents had complained that their families were not included in the census.

Kele said many people around the country were calling census toll-free lines to say they had missed out.

She confirmed they were still delivering census pads to some provinces.

"Those who have not been counted should call the toll free line on 180 2055, 180 2036 and 180 2093 or approach their provincial authorities."