Patiently waiting: A long line of people waiting to register with Padu at the Johor Baru Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) office yesterday. — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: The 50% target registration for those aged 18 and above for the Central Database Hub (Padu) is achievable, says Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin.
The chief statistician said he is optimistic that registration could reach the 11 million target before registration closed.
As of noon yesterday, 48.3% or 10.8 million eligible people have registered with Padu.
Earlier in the day, those trying to register complained that they were unable to log on using their laptops and handphones, but the system returned to normal at about 3.30pm.
Mohd Uzir said a total of 1,902 physical registration counters nationwide were opened until 5pm yesterday.
“Based on the reports we received, most of the physical counters received an influx of people who wanted to register for Padu. This shows the people’s acceptance.
“Currently, among the states with the highest number of Padu registrations and updates are Perlis, Kelantan, Terengganu and Negri Sembilan, which have exceeded the 50% target,” he said.
Asked about some reservations from the Sabah and Sarawak state governments over Padu, Mohd Uzir said the system was built online and it could be accessible 24 hours a day.
“So far, the numbers have been encouraging from the two states.
“And (those in Sabah and Sarawak) have continued to register and update their information on our database,” he said.
He said since Padu was launched on Jan 2, the system continued to function without interruption or downtime, despite the high traffic volume.
He said this showed that the system had been well developed to facilitate registration and information update.
“As we have stated before, this system is safe to use, and the data stored in Padu is also safe.”
Mohd Uzir said the data stored in the system will make it easier for the Statistics Department to carry out analysis and census activities to facilitate the distribution of government aid.
This is in addition to helping the government introduce policies which will suit the needs of the people.
He said the department needed dynamic data to carry out analysis, adding that it will use the existing basic data for those who did not register with Padu.
Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said that the government had opened registration for Padu for people to update their socio-economic data status.
“The information needs to be verified and updated to ensure that the government will be fair to the people as it will be used for targeted subsidies to those eligible groups in the future,” he said in a Facebook post.
Rafizi also thanked all parties who had registered, updated and verified their data.
“God willing, on the last day, those who did not register would have done so.”
