TT sixth – not second

THE EDITOR: It seems like everyone is having trouble with mathematics these days. The SEA students/parents and the Guyana Court of Appeal readily come to mind. Now it’s the turn of a newspaper reporter.

The headline blared, “T&T overtsay (sic) rate in US second lowest in world.” For the period under consideration – October 2017 to September 2018 – our overstay rate was 0.45 per cent. (Of all the people from TT who entered the US on B1/B2 visas during that period, 0.45 per cent did not leave when their stay expired.)

Cyprus had an overstay rate of 0.40 per cent, which apparently prompted the headline. However, the report also stated that four countries – North Korea, Timor-Leste (East Timor), Vanuatu (the report said Vanuata) and The Holy See (Vatican City) – had “no reported overstays.” In other words, these four had an overstay rate of zero per cent, all lower than TT.

By my count, therefore, TT’s overstay rate was the sixth lowest, not the second. I could understand the eagerness to make TT look good but we must try not to be guilty of “lying with statistics” by ignoring relevant data.

NOEL KALICHARAN via e-mail

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