THE Central Database Hub (Padu) will be reopened to the public again after the March 31 deadline but no specific date has been given.
Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli, who previously said the deadline would not be extended, said the exercise will be reopened to the public for a second round.
“Maybe towards the end of the year, or in a few months, after we have implemented targeted subsidies,” he told reporters after a soft launch of the KL20 Summit 2024 in Parliament yesterday.
He acknowledged that there are some issues that have hindered registration but added that they will be addressed when Padu is opened again to the public.
“Then we will reopen it about two to three months at one time in a year for people to update their data and when new features are introduced,” he said.
“If we do not close Padu (on March 31), there will be no end and we can’t move towards the implementation of targeted subsidies.”
Rafizi said Padu has received 400,000 daily registrations as of Tuesday.
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“The last-minute factor is our culture. We still have five more days to go and I think we should be able to cross 10 million registrations,” he said.
The minister also noted that there are 21 million working adults aged above 18 and 20% of them are unlikely to register for Padu as they likely do not qualify for aid.
“So you are looking at 16 million adults. If we have 10 million out of 16 million, that means we have more or less covered 70% of the target,” he said.
Referring to what he called “a handful of politicians who are against Padu”, Rafizi said their views should not be construed as the opinion of the majority.
This small group of political leaders such as Umno supreme council member Datuk Dr Puad Zarkashi, he said, is critical of Padu due to personal reasons.
“Puad disagrees with me because I raised the 1MDB issue back when he was the head of the Special Affairs Department (Jasa).
“He later lost in the election and was out of the government. So that was personal,” Rafizi said.
The minister said that while he tries his best to address criticisms and concerns on Padu, it is important for Malaysians to not lose focus on the matter – noting that Padu is an important component of major national reforms.
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He commended again the civil service for their effort on Padu and urged Malaysians to give credit where it is due.
“They worked countless hours over the past one year.
“We want an efficient, international (standard) government and civil service. But when they step up and try to do their best, we choose to give space to these four or five individuals who are looking for clickbaits,” he said.
