GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/04 February) – The city government will launch a census next month in a bid to determine the present status and possible gaps in the delivery of basic government services in the area.
City Mayor Darlene Antonino-Custodio said the census will mainly focus on the updating and establishment of the actual data regarding the economic and health concerns of residents within the city’s 26 barangays.
“The results of the census will guide the city government in determining the services that our residents really need at this time and help us balance the utilization of available resources to
effectively address those needs,” she said.
Custodio said they prioritized the holding of the census, which will run from March to April, to facilitate the alignment of the city government’s resources and priority programs with the needs of local residents and communities.
She said they will utilize the census’ results in drawing up the needed strategies and targets that will help ensure a more effective service delivery and allocation of resources.
The mayor said they will also use the established baseline data as basis in the formulation of various plans for the city and local residents.
“These plans will be designed to improve the living condition of our residents and the development of the city,” Custodio said.
Perla Castellano, assistant head of the City Planning and Development Office, said the census will gather some basic information of the target households such as names, ages and the number of individuals within.
She said among the survey questions and concerns that would be fielded to the target households are the possibility of lingering cases of cough, their special needs, type insurance scheme availed and the mode of transportation they usually use.
Castellano said the city government plans to hire at least 300 field interviewers and supervisors for the entire duration of the census, which has an allocation of some P11 million.
To facilitate the conduct of the census, she said they initially launched the mapping of the established zones or “puroks” in each of the city’s barangays to facilitate the conduct of the census.
Castellano said they are specifically coming up with “spot maps” of all barangay zones that will include some basic information on the target households and their exact location.
“We’re doing the census at the purok level to really come up with a more realistic date and eventually draw up realistic interventions regarding the basic concerns of our residents and their communities,” she added. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)