“An enumerator will come to your houses to pick up the completed questionnaires or help you fill up the forms if you need help,” CNMI Census partnership specialist Kathryn Barry yesterday said.
The CNMI Census forms has a 75 questions — 48 questions for population characteristics and 27 questions for housing characteristics.
Barry said the CNMI Census forms are different from the U.S. forms which have only 10 questions.
“The United States conducts regular numerous surveys about housing and population very often so they have updated files on the residents but this is not being done in the CNMI,” Barry said.
Partnerships urged
She said the Census Office has gone all out to educate everyone about the importance of the Census to the island’s businesses and the community.
“We urge you to be a partner and work with us in supporting the 2010 Census,” Barry said.
Partnering with the 2010 Census can help boost the local economy by bringing jobs to the community, and get the funding CNMI deserves, she added.
Barry said partners can include census information in newsletters, mailings and online. They can also serve as spokespersons for media interviews and speaking opportunities, help recruit workers and provide space for testing and training census employees.
By the end of the month, Barry said they will be posting reminders to urge every resident to be counted.
“By April and May, multi-lingual staff of the 2010 Census will visit the dwellings so that by August, everything will be completed and we can send the data to Washington,” she said.
Job
openings
Interviews are still being conducted for job openings at the Local Census Office.
She said most of the jobs open are for enumerators but anyone interested can visit the Census Office to pick up an application.
“These jobs are temporary but we may need to replace or add more staff as we go along until the whole project is finished in August,” Barry said.
The Local Census office has opened 350 temporary jobs until August.
For more information, visit the Local Census Office at the International Terminal Loop next to Saipan International Airport, call 288-3027/23 or visit the census Web site at www.commerce.gov.mp.
