Planning Minister Bhoe Tewarie is optimistic that the Central Statistical Office (CSO) will relocate to new office space in 2014. The CSO is currently operating from a temporary location on Park Street, Port-of-Spain, having moved out its operations from Independence Square in May due to health and safety concerns.
The CSO has been plagued with several challenges over the years:
�2 a shortage of qualified technical staff
�2 unavailability of timely data
�2 operating from several temporary locations
"Recently, it was closed down because of the health hazard issues having to do with the building. That set us back even more. The employees continue to work despite the difficult position they were placed in. But we are in negotiation to have a new office for them by next year. It could be in Port-of-Spain or some where accessible, like Trincity, or somewhere else," Tewarie said.
The Business Guardian interviewed Tewarie on Monday at his office in the Eric Williams Financial Complex, Independence Square, Port-of-Spain. In spite of these constraints, Tewarie said the CSO manages to carry out its mandate efficiently. "The CSO does all the work it is supposed to do fairly well. It provides the growth domestic product (GDP) every year, it provides the inflation figures every month. It works on trade statistics, which is now up-to-date. But the trade statistics have some problems because of the Asycuda system.