Diario Libre reminds its readers that one whole year has elapsed since the 8th National Population and Housing Census of October 2002, and the results that were originally scheduled to be released in mid-2003 are nowhere near ready. Canvassing an estimated 2.5 million homes, 120,000 individuals were recruited to carry out the survey. Their questions included new categories, such as maternal mortality and whether the household was in receipt of remittances. The census office, which has changed management over the last few months, told the newspaper that March 2004 is the current target date and that “technical and administrative problems under the previous management” were the reason for the delay. Preliminary details about population (8.2 million, compared to the 1993 figure of 7.3 million) and housing were released some months after the census took place, but the full report is far from complete. Diario Libre’s editorial comment states that this is not the first time a census has ended in disaster. The writer outlines the importance of carrying out such surveys and concludes that the main result of this latest attempt has been to highlight characteristic incapacity of the authorities to fulfill a basic task, and one which is of great importance to the nation. “This result is as discouraging as the poverty of our statistical resources, in a world where numbers are what define social policy and decision-making.” The 18-19-20 October 2002 census cost Dominican taxpayers over RD$250 million. The previous poll was conducted in 1993.