August 3, 2022, 4:00 AM
August 3, 2022, 4:00 AM
In the midst of the struggle for the next population and housing census, the The Government of Santa Cruz announced yesterday that it will carry out its own statistical survey to know the state in which families live in the 15 provinces of the department. The results of this work, according to Governor Luis Fernando Camacho, sThey will know before the end of the year and before the census operation is carried outpostponed until 2024.
“We have to present to the people of Santa Cruz, at least in the month of October, the work carried out in its entirety. This departmental statistical survey corresponds to a scientific investigation based on clear data, based on a serious investigation that is done throughout the department to be able to have data on health, education and know how the families are; how many have their own roof; so that the Government sees that we are not in opulence as they want us to believe,” said Camacho.
The initiative was presented at a ceremony held at the Center for Environmental Education (CEA), while the president Luis Arce met, less than 20 blocks from that site, with the unionists affected by the fire of the Mutualista market in facilities of the Conaltid building. Both events were held around noon.
Yesterday, the president fulfilled a hectic schedule in Cochabamba and Chuquisaca, where events were held for the Day of the Agrarian, Productive and Community Revolution. A space was given to visit Santa Cruz de la Sierra and it used its digital channels to show support that he received from the Union Federation of Campesinos of the Valles Cruceños.
“We demand a technically well-conducted census for the planning and development of our municipalities. We support its realization in 2024, after the socialization of the competent authorities”indicates the pronouncement of this sector, related to the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS).
The statement indicates support for the Head of State in the face of alleged “destabilizing” preparations. This about the threat of a work stoppage for August 8 and 9 in Santa Cruz and that can be fulfilled if the Government does not agree to adjust the date of that registration.
Last Saturday, at a summit in which more than 400 Santa Cruz institutions participated, a resolution was approved to demand the annulment of Decree 4760 with which the date of the census was postponed until 2024 and waits for the National Institute of Statistics (INE) to explain the technical reasons for postponing the statistical operation that, initially, was set for November 16 of this year.
The regulations were approved by President Arce at the mercy of a request for “consensus” made by the National Council of Autonomies (CNA), on July 11. That day, eight of the nine governors, in addition to representatives of the municipal associations and indigenous autonomies, requested to postpone the great survey due to the delays in the cartographic update, the lack of socialization of the census ballot and the problems that were reported with the arrival of the electronic tablets with which the data will be collected on the day of the statistical operation.
Camacho, who was invited on July 1, did not participate in that meeting.because it coincided with a court summons in the ‘Coup I’ case.
The Government Minister, Eduardo del Catillo, stated that “technically it is impossible to advance the date of the census and assured that the Government will support the activities during the days of the protest.
“If the union family decides to go out to work, we are going to guarantee that job; if the carriers of this department decide to go to work, we will guarantee that work; and those who want to carry out a strike to stay at home “affirmed the authority, who was in Santa Cruz with the President.
ICE defined a sample of 8,000 households in the department to develop the survey, explained
Juan Pablo Suárez, director of the Santa Cruz institute that will be in charge of the statistical operation. The specialist pointed out that, according to the design of the study, there is a reliability level of 98% and that urban and rural households will be taken into account. He announced that before the end of the year, the department will have important preliminary information.
The survey will address ethnic identity, violence, Covid-19, childhood and adolescence, socioeconomic indicators, tourism and migration, access to Information and Communication Technologies. “This departmental statistical survey is an action that arises when seeing that the MAS government refuses to carry out the census, by incapacity and also by a political calculation. For this reason, we are going to collect the statistical data of the department and thus have the information that centralism does not want to make known”, remarked the Governor during the presentation of the “departmental census”.
Thus, the authority highlighted the importance of this information for the planning and organization of the municipal and departmental governments of the Santa Cruz region. “We cannot remain alone in the resistance and in the protest; we will use the methodology and means of statistical research to project the figures of our department, to have reliable information,” said the governor.
Therefore, a bill declaring this statistical work a departmental priority will be sent to the Departmental Legislative Assembly for approval. Camacho indicated that the necessary resources will be allocated for this case.
For its part, Zvonko Matkovic, president of the Santa Cruz Legislative, defended the departmental competence to carry out the study. “We have the obligation to plan and promote human development; elaborate our own departmental statistics and elaborate and execute departmental development plans”, he affirmed.
“They are going to want to lie to us, because they already did. They did it in March when the INE told us that they had the work ready and in June they are saying that they had not done anything,” said Matkovic, who lamented the lack of transparency of the Government regarding the census. The law will be treated urgently.
