IT WILL be impossible to register the one million or so rural Sarawakians with Putrajaya’s Central Database Hub (Padu) before the deadline at the end of March.
Social activists and civil society groups told The Vibes today that the registration process is still sluggish in remote, sprawling districts such as Baram, Belaga and Kapit.
Harry Wing said it has been three weeks since the system was launched by the prime minister but “we can all see here in rural Belaga that registration is very slow in coming”.
“In fact, the briefings from the political parties have not even gained momentum, let alone the actual process of registration of those without any handphone and mobile coverage,” he said.
For example, in Belaga district, which is the same size as the state of Pahang, there is only one centre for the registration, called Pusat Ekonomi Digital (Pedi), located in the Sg Asap resettlement scheme near the Bakun Dam.
“Belaga district extends right until Sarawak’s border with Kalimantan and some settlements are located about ten hours away by logging roads.
“How to carry out Padu registration for them?” he asked.
Wing said it is simply impossible to meet the March 31 deadline as announced by Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.
Another activist, Willie Kajan, also pointed out that awareness about Padu has not gathered pace in his district of Baram, which is slightly smaller than Belaga.
“It is not possible to meet the deadline as even now. So many longhouse folk still do not know what to do to get linked to Padu.
“What is Padu is still a mystery to most in Baram,” he said. “There are even folk who had never used digital devices before.”
On January 15, Sarawak PKR had urged Putrajaya to allow manual registration for the one million plus rural Sarawakians who are without mobile phone coverage.
State chairman Roland Engan said the party will deploy mobile “flying squads” into all the rural districts to help with the exercise if Putrajaya allows the manual method.
The government had announced on January 12 that numerous Pedi centres, operated by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), would be set up in districts across Sarawak.
They would serve to help local folk with no telecommunication devices register with the Padu system.
The Statistics Department even announced that it would start deploying its staff to selected Pedi offices throughout Sarawak to help with the registration.
The Society for Rights of Indigenous Peoples of Sarawak (Scrips) had called on the political parties in Sarawak to rope in telecommunication companies like Celcom, Maxis, Digi, TMNet and others to help in the Padu registration in every rural settlement.
The federal government is implementing the Padu system to enable it to channel subsidies for essential items to those who are from the lower income brackets.
This is to avoid government subsidies from being exploited by those with high incomes, such as is the case now. – The Vibes, January 23, 2024
