KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam) is ready to face the Rights and Privileges Committee if he is required to do so over his recent remarks on the government’s Central Database Hub (Padu).
Dr Wee said he cited parliamentary records when he remarked that the development and implementation of the Padu system from 2023 to 2025 is expected to cost RM85.27mil.
“I never referred to the Economy Minister himself. I’m an anak jantan (real man) and if I were to be referred to the rights and privileges committee, I will face it, no problem.
“I was referring to the written reply in Parliament,” said Dr Wee in Parliament on Thursday (Nov 14).
Dr Wee was referring to Chong Zhemin (PH-Kampar), who recently sought to refer him to the Rights and Privileges Committee.
Dr Wee also criticised Chong for twisting the facts over the issue involving the Ayer Hitam MP and Rafizi.
According to Dr Wee, Chong had also accused him on Thursday (Nov 14) evening of wanting to refer Rafizi to the rights and privileges committee.
“I have never wanted to refer the Economy Minister to the rights and privileges committee and I have said that from the start. I need to clear my name,” added Dr Wee.
Chong then attempted to rebut Dr Wee, but he was told to sit down by Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul, who said he had received letters from both.
“Next week, I will make a decision. So, I request to rest this case until I make a decision,” added Johari.
On Friday (Nov 8), Dr Wee said the RM85mil cost on Padu was put on the parliamentary record at least twice and it was regrettable that despite this, he had been accused of getting his facts wrong.
Dr Wee said that on July 1, a written response was provided for a question posed by Datuk Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff (PN-Rantau Panjang), who asked about the development cost of Padu.
“The response given was RM85.27mil. On July 11, another question by Tan Hong Pin (PH-Bakri) had asked about the implementation cost of Padu and the same answer was provided - RM85.27mil,” said Dr Wee
Dr Wee said it was baffling that Rafizi did not issue a ministerial clarification to correct the RM85.28mil figure as it has been four months since it was revealed on July 1.
Recently, Rafizi said it was untrue that Padu was developed with an allocation of RM85mil, saying that only RM31mil had been spent as of September.
According to Rafizi, the RM31mil included RM800,000 on the servers, firewall and network security, RM4.6mil for platform database encryption and other purposes, and RM6.4mil for cloud services.
The heftiest expenditure on Padu, said Rafizi, was the RM19.3mil for nationwide registration operations.
