Gov’t deploys over 250 enumerators for Census 2000

Thirty-year-old Hope brags that she would not provide enumerators accurate answers when she is interviewed for the United States Constitution-mandated periodic gathering of population data.

Hope, who is a mother of two U.S.-born children, is one of the group of people who does not take census seriously on belief that the government’s effort is nothing more than statistics.

Like other unaware people, Hope is oblivious of the reasons why a complete accounting of every individual is conducted throughout the United States every 10 years, according to Washington Census 2000 Advisor Tasha Boone.

Ms. Boone said people like Hope, who lie on the census forms, hurt no one but themselves and their children who are more likely to encounter the consequences brought about by inaccurate answers to census questions.

She said census data is used by both the Commonwealth and federal governments for all types of grants and funding for schools, health care, infrastructure and utilities.

Businesses rely heavily on information gathered through the census before pouring in investments into the Commonwealth since it will help them determine whether there are enough market in the Northern Marianas to sustain the existence of their businesses in the islands.

Information which will be gathered from Census 2000 is of great importance in the CNMI government’s efforts to spur economic activities in the islands by enticing foreign and mainland investors to do business here.

“International businesses look in the census data to measure if they can sustain their businesses here, making the information very significant in their decision to whether relocate here or not,” she told reporters in an interview.

Census 2000 begins Saturday when more than 250 people will be mobilized by the federal government throughout the Northern Marianas to gather data for the United States Constitution-mandated accounting of population.

According to Ms. Boone, the U.S. government holds census once every 10 years to measure how much funding a public entity needs and identify better ways to efficiently respond to both natural and man-made disasters.

“This is one important way for the CNMI to receive what it needs. Census is the only way for the CNMI to know what it needs,” she pointed out, adding that federal funding are normally based on what is required by the number of people in a particular area.

Ms. Boone is encouraging Northern Marianas residents, including documented and undocumented aliens to answer questionnaires from information collectors, who will be deployed for the program mornings and evenings, to ensure that everyone in the island is counted.

She said census officials are sworn to secrecy and that enumerators who do door-to-door interview were required to have a Federal Bureau of Investigation check and drug test.

She added that the public can feel safe giving confidential information since individual data is not available to police, Immigration and Naturalization Service, courts or to the military.

Ms. Boone explained that census data are also used by federal and local government agencies in responding to disaster and emergency calls. Census 2000 will include mapping of houses through door-to-door collection of data. The information will then be kept in the archives for use in disaster relief.

“The housing information that we collect becomes of vital importance for relief funding during times of natural disasters such as typhoons,” she said in an interview.

Census officials expect to complete collection of data, including population, housing and income, in six weeks. Result of the Census 2000 will also determine whether Saipan can already be classified as an urban area.

Under existing laws, an area is considered urban only when its population count reach over 100,000. As of the 1990 census when population was less than 50,000 , Saipan’s classification remains rural.

Census 2000 is not limited to the indigenous CNMI population and U.S. citizens, according to Ms. Boone. Non-resident workers, regardless of their immigration status, will also be surveyed.

More than $3.5 million has been earmarked from the U.S. Department of Commerce Fiscal Year 2000 budget to carry out the census in the Northern Marianas. The undertaking has created almost 500 jobs.