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In response to enquiries from members of the press and the public today (March 14) concerning the operation of the Census hotline, a spokesman for the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) gave the following reply:

The C&SD has set up a network of 110 telephone lines to handle enquiries concerning the 2001 Population Census. Between March 9 and 13, the hotline network handled some 24 000 enquiries, about 10 000 of which were dealt with yesterday.

The spokesman said past experience showed that members of the public tended to make enquiries immediately after receiving the householder letter, thus stretching the capacity of the hotline within a short period of time. The C&SD apologized for any inconvenience caused to the public because of the busy lines.

The spokesman noted that about half of the calls were from enthusiastic members of the public wishing to make prior appointment with visiting census officers at the earliest instance. He pointed out appointment making was not a must.

Moreover, householders do not have to wait at home for the census officers. When the Census begins, 1 200 regional working teams will be in operation and if census officers are unable to reach members of a particular household on the first visit, they will leave an appointment card with the telephone number of the relevant regional working team. Hence, it is not necessary for households to rush and make appointments by phone.

It may be noted that the public can also contact the Department by e-mail (2001census@censtatd.gov.hk).

End/Wednesday, March 14, 2001

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