Health Minister Vincent Wheatley has underscored the critical importance of the national census, revealing that the British Virgin Islands (BVI) continues to miss out on international aid due to the lack of up-to-date population statistics.
Field officers tasked with collecting census data frequently encounter resistance from residents unwilling to disclose personal information required for the process. However, Wheatley warned that such reluctance has serious consequences.
“I think only two OECS countries have up-to-date census data. When I travel to international meetings, it’s one of the first things they ask for: ‘Can I see your census data?’. If you’re trying to get aid from any country, they’ll tell you that with no census data, you don’t qualify automatically,” Wheatley explained.
He continued: “I can’t overemphasize the importance of the census enough. It (the absence of up-to-date census data) is holding us back from getting a lot of international aid so please cooperate when they come to your home.”
Echoing his concerns, Junior Minister for Financial Services, Trade and Economic Development, Lorna Smith, encouraged residents to prioritize their participation in the census and emphasized that there are many ways to make the process more manageable.
Meanwhile, Director of the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Raymond Phillip, has announced a new deadline of June 2025 to complete the long-overdue national census.
Phillip noted that while a recently enacted law that imposes penalties for withholding census information has had some impact, overall progress remains slower than anticipated.
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