Punctual, truthful and reliable information to communicate to the local and national government, and to draw up development policies, provides the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), of Las Tunas, whose workers celebrate, this September 6, the Day of that profession in Cuba. 

Las Tunas, Cuba.- At the 50th anniversary of the first Population and Housing Census in the revolutionary stage, Deisy Ochoa Ochoa, deputy director of the institution, pondered the state commission of that entity, subordinated to the Council of Ministers, and source of demographic, economic, social, environmental and of another nature data about the national reality.

In the province, this activity occurs through agreements established with more than two hundred institutions that provide information to the National Statistical System, while a similar figure provides data of interest for that structure at the local level, the expert explained.

She said that 94 budgeted units, 63 companies, two non-agricultural cooperatives, and other entities of the economy and services, contribute content related to energy carriers, financial statements, retail commercial circulation, employment and salary indicators, among other aspects.

The deputy director of the ONEI pointed out that they also calculate the consumer price index and carry out a study of the rates and then issue a bulletin with evaluations referring to more than 400 products and services in the formal and non-state market.

In the current year, Ocho Ochoa said, they conducted two surveys: the National Occupation Survey and the Household Economic Situation Survey, which delved into issues such as employment, unemployment, income and expenses, among other topics.

The situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the execution of other researches such as the survey of self-employed workers, that of fertility rate, and the one referring to people living with HIV-AIDS, she said. However, in general, the collection of the necessary information for government management was maintained in all instances.

The official stressed that this work is also carried out and, essentially, thanks to the efforts of more than a hundred workers of the system and the collaboration of those in the entities who are in charge of collecting the data that they then transfer to the ONEI, responsible for converting the numbers in information, which is used later by the Government to make decisions.

The Che Guevara’s core idea that “You cannot direct if you do not know how to analyze, and you cannot analyze if there is no truthful data; and if there is not a whole system for collecting reliable data, (…) if there is not a whole preparation of a statistical system and of men accustomed to collecting the data and transforming it into numbers,” guides the performance of the women and men employed in the Office of Statistics and Information in Las Tunas.