Census officials want pay

By ALISON ANIS

 

THE national census in the nation's capital went well yesterday despite a complaint by some officials in the two main NCD zones that they were not paid their daily K40 field allowance, The National reports.

NCD census co-ordinator Jacklyn Tarawu, however, said many of the interviewers had visited homes to obtain the information required for the census.

Tarawu admitted that there were a few logistical problems including the delay in the payment of allowances.

"Most of the officials in the NCD conducted the census yesterday but a few people refused to work because of the non-payment of allowances from the department of Finance and Treasury," Tarawu said.

She said more than 100 census supervisors and interviewers in Zone Eight, which included 8-Mile and 9-Mile, Bomana, Tete settlement, Laloki, ATS compound and Fisherman Island, refused to conduct the national survey because of the allowance problem.

Some officials confirmed with The National yesterday morning that they refused to conduct the census because there were security, logistics and allowance problems which had not been resolved.

The census team from Zone Two which covered Gerehu, Waigani, Erima, Morata, Ensisi and UPNG  made similar complaints.

According to the National Statistical Office, the funds to cover daily allowances for the census officials were being held up at the Finance office.

Tarawu said it was "beyond our control".

She said the census headquarters had been advised that the Finance Department would release the money either by the end of yesterday or today to pay the census teams.

"We have advised the census co-ordinators in each zone that they would receive their payments by tomorrow (today)," she said.