KUALA LUMPUR: Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli refuted claims by an online portal that several Pangkaan Data Utama (PADU) service counters were closed in the final stretch of registrations.
He said in fact more counters have been opened in final two weeks before the Mar 31, 2024 deadline for PADU registration.
While the primary method of registration is through the PADU website, the government has set up counters to aid individuals who face difficulties in completing the online registration process.
Rafizi clarified that the PADU team, including the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM), is now more focused on opening counters in 4,752 targeted locations at risk of being passed over rather than waiting for the public to come to the counters or government offices themselves.
"What happened was they went to the website, looked at the schedule, and it said "closed.""We have limited staff, so it's more efficient to deploy them where they're needed. From January to February, the team received many requests from residents' associations, representatives, and non-governmental organisations for the PADU team and DOSM to open counters in their areas. So, it is more efficient for us to deploy limited manpower to these targeted localities," he said.The claim that counters are closed, as if officers are not doing their job, is untrue, said Rafiz.
He said there are always counters open, such as DOSM Selangor operating seven days a week, from morning till night.
"Our approach at the moment is better to meet them rather than officers waiting at counters and government offices," he added.Especially during the fasting month, it is clear that deploying resources where people are is more effective than waiting for them to come to government office counters," said Rafizi.