Our country’s Prime Minister, James Marape has reiterated the paramount importance of the 2024 National Census to the development of Papua New Guinea. He emphasized in a statement that it is “shameful” for the country not to have an up-to-date registry of all its citizens. The census officially commenced on Monday, June 17, with the Prime Minister being the first person to be counted and will run until Sunday, June 30, 2024. Speaking on the FM100 Talkback Show today, Prime Minister Marape, along with Administrative Services Minister Richard Masere, Chief Secretary Ivan Pomaleu, and National Statistician John Igitoi, stressed the importance of the event and provided a comprehensive update to the nation. “Get involved, leave no one behind." "Get yourself counted and the government will try its absolute best to ensure the product (of the census) benefits all of us,” Prime Minister Marape urged. Prime Minister Marape underscored the significance of the census, noting that the last comprehensive count was in 2000. The 2011 census was not comprehensive, and no census was held in 2020 due to COVID-19. “We felt that 2024 must be the year, especially being one year away from our 50th anniversary, to present the numbers to the country." "Importantly, as government, we need to plan well for our country beyond our 50th anniversary.“ “It is a very important, milestone event for our country, on the 49th anniversary of independence, to know every person in our country,” he said. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Marape added that he was ashamed to say that we don’t have an up-to-date registry of all our citizens. “That’s not good for any national leadership." "When we know our citizens, we can, at least, plan for how we can look after them, whether it be in education, health, infrastructure, economic empowerment, and many others." "I am a strong believer in the informal sector empowering our people. Knowing our people is important.” “This census is very important for us as a nation that is why I’m here, that is why I stayed until midnight to be the first to be registered." "This is to signal to all our people that while we may not have solutions for all of you, the least we want to know is your presence, so that we can plan for you going forward.”