JEDDAH, 22 August 2004 — Many Saudis have expressed their hope that the upcoming general census, scheduled to start on Sept. 15, will herald a new era of development and promote the welfare of citizens and residents all over the country.
They urged the census officials to carry out the task sincerely and perfectly.
The Ministry of Economy and Planning has completed all preparations for the much-publicized event aimed at collecting data required for drafting strategic development plans.
“The census will be decisive in determining the Kingdom’s economic policy for the next 10 years,” says Economy and Planning Minister Khaled Al-Gosaibi.
The questionnaire for the census contains 62 questions related to family, its revenue and expenditure, physical handicaps, unemployment, tourism, education, access to utility services such as water and electricity, recreational facilities, procreation rate and the number of births and deaths during the past year.
The ministry has trained some 40,000 officials including women to collect the much-needed data, said Maeed Muhammad Al-Otaibi, supervisor of census in Jeddah. They will be given personal identification cards on Sept. 13, he said, adding that the cards will be valid until Oct. 14, the last date of the census.
According to Abdullah Al-Batel, director of census at the General Statistics Department, the general census would help the government get statistical data required for setting out economic plans and solving social problems.
Muhanna ibn Abdul Kareem Al-Muhanna, Batel’s deputy, emphasized the significance of the census and said it would help draft the 8th five-year plan (2005-2010) and the 25-year long-term plan.
Abdullah Al-Jabali, a Saudi, said the census must be utilized to work out plans for the educational, social and economic development of all parts of the country.
“The census must be used to find solutions for our problems such as unemployment. We hope the new census would help us set out strategic and clear plans,” he said, adding that the plans must be implemented and should not remain in paper.
“We hope that the census will herald a new era of development,” said Abdullah Al-Badrani.
“Credibility and sincerity must be the hallmark of census officials as the government to a great extent depends on them to work out future development plans,” he said.
Salim Al-Harbi, another Saudi, said he hoped that the census would give the correct number of unemployed Saudis and the superfluous expatriate workers.
“It will also give us an idea of the shortage of services in some parts of the country, especially in the areas of education and health. In northern Saudi Arabia, for example, there are no universities, not even a university branch,” he said.
Al-Harbi called upon his compatriots to provide correct information to the census workers.
Thamer Al-Motairy urged authorities to implement the decisions taken on the basis of census.
“Had the authorities acted in accordance with 1992 census they could have controlled unemployment and solved many other problems,” added Nasser Abdullah.
