KUWAIT CITY, June 5: “We have proposed to the Ministry of Interior to consider tying residency renewal and civil Identification issuance to population census compliance , and that is bound to be approved very soon”, said the Director of Kuwait Central Statistics Bureau, Dr Abdullah Al-Sahar, as he spoke at a press conference to brief the press on the decision to extend the census period by two weeks after the 31st May deadline as well as highlight some of the challenges facing the project.

Flanked by officials of the Central Statistics Bureau and the Planning Ministry, Dr Sahar thanked Kuwaiti citizens, expatriates, guests as well as telecoms companies, Zain, Wataniya and Viva for their cooperation and success of the ongoing population census.

Dr Sahar, speaking at the fourth in a series of press briefings since the start of the census which was originally scheduled to run from April 21 to May 31, 2011, even though the exercise has largely been a success, his outfit has noticed a few issues regarding the response which could eventually impact the wider coverage, data as well as final results.

In an attempt to broaden the coverage as much as possible, Dr Al-Sahar said his office has for various reasons, decided to extend the census enumeration period by two weeks to make sure all citizens, residents and guests, who for various reasons did not participate in the exercise, get to participate, adding that a new wave of advertisements and SMSs are being sent out to the various media outlets in six languages including Arabic, English, Filipino, Indonesian, Urdu and Farsi, targeting various communities.

He said while some people may not be aware of the on-going census and for that matter, were reluctant to co-operate with enumerators when they showed up at their residence gates to have them registered, some may have been out of town on vacations with some being plainly intransigent.

Dr Al-Sahar stated that due to these reasons, his outfit has decided to extend the census registration period till June 15, 2011, hoping that people who for various reasons did not participate will come on board.

“We hope during that period, our guests in Kuwait participate in the census which will not take more than half an hour, particularly now, when participation will be linked to some of the services provided by the Kuwaiti government, like the issuing of their civil Identification or some of the services provided at the ministries for the renewal of their residencies. We hope our guests in Kuwait cooperate in providing all the needed information to the Central Statistics Office,” he stated further.

He hinted that the Statistical Bureau has opened eight centers in each constituency open 4 pm to 8 pm daily, to make it easy for people to be able to visit and provide their information to the enumerators, and the centers include Kuwait City (Rawda Sec. school), Hawally “A” (Anjafa Elementary School), Hawally “B” (Arwa Elementary school for girls-Rumaithiya Blk 11), Ahmadi (Behind water station), Jahra (Blk 3-Nasr Bin Sayyar street), Farwaniya “A” (Abdul-Rahman bin Auf school-Khaitan Blk 5), Farwaniya ‘B” (Intermediate school for Boys-Farwaniya Blk 6, str 76), and Mubarak Al-Kabeer (Nisf-Al -Nisf Intermediate school for boys (Blk3 str. 153).

Further to that there are also seventeen service centers opened all across Kuwait and open 4 pm to 8 pm daily. The service center locations include: Abdullah Al-Mubarak, Al-Sabahia, Al-Rumaithiya, Al-Salaam, Freedom Complex building (Murqab), Jaber Ali (morning), Jaber Ali (evening), Ministry of Defense-Shuwaikh, Jahra Mall, Al-Naim (morning), Al-Naim (evening), Mubarak Al-Kabeer, Adan, Daia, Shamia (Morning), Shamia (evening) and Khaitan.

People who need assistance or more information regarding the on-going census project can call the 24-hour hotline “106” or visit the website www.kuwaitcensus.com. - Arabtimes