Skopje, 25 August 2021 (MIA) – The State Statistical Office (SSO) is fully prepared to start the 2021 census, the biggest and most important statistical operation. Strict protocols for pandemic-appropriate behavior have been put in place, and we guarantee to fully follow them, Apostol Simovski, director of the SSO, told a press conference on Wednesday. Simovski pointed out that almost 8,000 people applied to work as census data collectors, which will ensure complete coverage in the field. If needed, people working in government institutions and the local self-government, have been put at SSO's disposal, as per the government's decision. “We’re training regional instructors who will act as supervisors, and we will start training census takers in a few days,” Simovski stated. According to him, the SSO will know exactly how many census takers it will lack by Thursday or Friday, when the call ends and testing starts. The possibility of including part-time government and local government workers in the process, will only be used if they’re understaffed, and they will be paid for the work they do, much like every other participant in the census. In regard to what will happen if they say no and if that would end their work contracts, Simovski said that he doesn’t know if they can say no once a decision is made, and the duration of their contracts is under the authority of the institutions where these people work. “We can’t intrude at all. We just know that they’re available for the purpose of conducting the census. Furthermore, if you want to know how long they’ll be working for in the institutions, it’s a response to be sought in the institutions themselves,” Simovski said. When asked what he thinks about the opposition’s suggestion for an electronic census and the citizens who will refuse to participate, Simovski said that authorities can’t and don’t intend to think about changing the census methodology for the time being. “The methodology has been published in the Official Gazette, approved by Eurostat, so changing it is out of the question. In regards to any refusals, the law is precise, this is mandatory, not voluntary,” Simovski said. dk/mm