By Charlie Dumavi
The statistics and data must be considered important to build a nation for the people to celebrate instead of just celebrating the colours on the flag. This was stated by National Statistician, Alfred Mokae as he wishes the country a safe independence celebration.
Fifty years ago, the forefathers of Papua New Guinea gained nationhood on this date that now brings together the people to celebrate.
Reflecting on this National Statistician Alfred Mokae said the government must know the people and work together with them to create a better future.
“We must know our country in order to develop it,” Mokae said.
“If we do not know the country, how can we develop it?
We need to know where our people live, how they live and the challenges they face. Whether they have access to education, health and other service and how our economy is performing, very important.”
He said the office of Statistic is important to provide data to develop the country that will benefit everyone.
“Statistics are not simply numbers, behind every statistic is a person, behind every number is a family and behind every data set is a story of our people,” he added.
“Our responsibility as the statical office is therefore significant. Very important. If we want to know if the people of this nation access to infrastructure, health services or telecommunications, you got to have the data. You got to have the data to really understand the standard of living.”
He said the importance of statistical data for development has never been realise in the last five decade.
“The statistics that we produce influence government policies, investment in the country, development, planning and delivery of services to our people.”
He said NSWO is entering a new chapter to build a “modern, professional, efficient, and trusted national statical institution” going into the next 50 years of nationhood.
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