KUALA LUMPUR: Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli has retorted to critics of the soon-to-be-launched government Central Database System (Padu) with an X (formerly Twitter) post saying that he "was not surprised" and expecting criticism.
"Creating a new system (Padu) just to make money? I'm not surprised when there are dissenting voices alleging that the development of the Padu system is a waste of resources because it involves contracts worth hundreds of millions of ringgit," his post read.
In response to criticism and rumours about the development of the new system, Rafizi took to explaining the reasons behind the creation of the Padu system.
Calling it "a system to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in business and data management", he added that Padu is a positive step towards modernising the existing system and providing opportunities for economic growth.
Other reasons he listed for why Padu is a good decision by the government were utilisation of latest technology, a driver of business growth, long-term cost reduction and to foster business ecosystem growth.
Rafizi thanked Padu's core team comprising civil servants from the Economy Ministry, the Department of Statistics (DoSM), and the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (Mampu), adding that Padu was successfully developed in a short time period and within budget due to their tireless efforts who worked on it for seven months.
"From the beginning, I threw this challenge to the core team from the Economy Ministry, the Department of Statistics – DoSM, and Mampu, that Padu is an opportunity to showcase the expertise among civil servants.
"I pray that the existence of Padu will bring significant changes to public service from the government to the people. Indeed, the core team managing Padu will continue to face challenges, but if there is praise for Padu, that praise is rightfully directed to the civil servants (involved in the project)," he ended the post.