SHAH ALAM, 23 March — Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said that the government has no plans to extend the Central Database Hub (Padu) deadline on March 31 this year, as it could affect the implementation timeline further.

He said if the deadline is extended the government will have to hold the implementation of the targeted subsidy.

"Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has announced in the previous budget that we will restructure the bulk subsidy to targeted subsidy.

"If we hold the targeted subsidy plans, the government has to bear at least RM2 billion per month of the diesel subsidy that we have now,” he said, adding that it would be better for the cost to be channelled as aid to the families in need.

On the low registration rate of Padu at the town hall, today, the Pandan MP pointed out that Selangor and Federal Territory had the highest risk of exclusion among other states.

He said that the authorities had the geolocation pin in the low-income household area, which enabled them to gather data, map, and compare.

"Then we observed the apartments and none of them received Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah and didn’t register Padu.

"So we know that the area is at risk of exclusion because despite the place being populated with low and medium incomes, there is no population registration in the government data,” he said.

As the deadline for registration approaches in seven days, Rafizi estimated that 10 million people will be registering for the system within the timeline.

He advised people with disability to register with the Welfare Department if they haven’t registered.

He said that the data would be picked up from the department if they also experienced difficulties in registering Padu.

The PKR deputy president also commented on Sarawak minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Hamzah’s remark that the Sarawak government has reservations about the requirement for citizens to complete registration on Padu.

"It was his personal opinion. Everyone is entitled to have an opinion, even in Cabinet they are also entitled to have an opinion.

"In the end, we have to decide based on official decisions made by respective state governments,” he said, adding that he will be having a meeting with the Sarawak state government next week.

Recently, the Sarawak state government requested for several changes to be made in the system as there were doubts about information that should not be exposed.

Abdul Karim claimed that it was deemed as being ‘stripped naked’ after exposing every personal detail in Padu.