STATIN urging business owners to cooperate with field officers
KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) is urging businesses to cooperate with field officers conducting the Jamaica Survey of Establishments (JSE).
Since July, STATIN field officers have been visiting businesses across the island to collect basic information on the number and types of entities in operation. The data-collection phase of the survey will be completed at the end of November.
“I would encourage all Jamaican businesses to participate in this survey, as the information is critical, because it will allow government and even the firms themselves to have information on the type of businesses operating in Jamaica and how they are contributing to national and economic growth,” said Director General at STATIN, Carol Coy.
“STATIN would like to reassure all businesses that any information collected under this or any survey undertaken is confidential and their data is protected under the Statistics Act,” she said, noting that STATIN can only use the data for statistical purposes.
Data to be captured by the JSE include the location of businesses, their structure, the gender and categories of employees, their use of technology and alternative energy, their access to financing and the challenges faced.
The data will be used to inform economic planning, market analysis, investment and production decisions and benchmarking of economic statistics.
“The information that we gather from this survey will be used to do more in-depth surveys of particular businesses, such as the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, as we have not done a survey on this group for a long time. So this survey will give us a base from which we can do smaller surveys,” the STATIN director-general pointed out.
She explained that the survey is largely restricted to establishments employing three or more individuals on a continuous basis, in mainly urban and semi-urban areas.
STATIN’s interviewers will present their identification cards and an introductory letter to each business before administering the questionnaire. The entire process takes approximately 20 minutes.
For more information on the JSE, individuals may call STATIN at 876-630-1600 or email: info@statinja.gov.jm
