ALOR STAR: The Madani government should urgently improve its public service announcements (PSA) on targeted subsidy initiative and consider reopening the Central Database Hub (Padu) registration.
Consumer Association of Kedah (Cake) president Yusrizal Yusoff claimed that poor PSA campaign was among the key reasons for Padu registration that only achieved below 60 per cent from the total eligible Malaysians.
"The government should seriously improve its communications on targeted subsidy initiative because people are not getting a clear and comprehensive information.
"During the Padu registration period between January and the end of March, the government did not provide sufficient and clear information on methods to distribute targeted subsidies, either it will be in the form of direct cash, fleet card or so on.
"Thus, it is very important for the government to understand the importance of effective communications so that the people will be more receptive and cooperative towards the initiative," he said when contacted.
Yusrizal said another key issue is the distrust among Malaysians towards the Padu registration drive which ended on March 31.
He said most of Malaysians who had registered with Padu were civil servants because they are obliged to do so.
"Even for those who have registered, I learnt that most of them did not provide full financial details as required by Padu because they believe that some of the information required in Padu is already available at other government agencies."
He expressed Cake's concern over the accuracy of data provided by respondents in Padu since many of them expressed their distrust over safety of their data.
Yusrizal was responding to Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli's statement on Monday that a total of 17.65 million (58.7 per cent) of Malaysians had successfully updated their details in Padu, with of the number, 11.55 million (52.6 per cent) were citizens above 18 years old.
Rafizi was also reported as saying that the ministry will announce the reopening of Padu for a brief period for registration and updates, once the government decides on the form and mechanism of targeted subsidies.
Commenting further, Yusrizal stressed that the government should seriously consider reopening of Padu registration since there are many under eligible Malaysians who have to do so before end of March deadline.
"Our concern is that among the remaining 40 per cent who did not register for Padu because they did not have access to do so.
"We cannot simply assume that the whole eligible Malaysian population has an access to the proper Internet or are able to go to the counters for Padu registration."
He said Padu's registration rate is way disappointing as compared to over 95 per cent registration achieved during the rush for Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M).
He expressed his concern that there were many low and middle-income earners were among the 40 per cent who have yet to register with Padu.
"They might be left out from getting the government subsidies.
"So, it is imperative for the Padu registration to be reopened and for the government to step up its PSA on the targeted subsidy," he said.
