KUALA LUMPUR: The government is on track to hit the target of 10 million registrations, or 50 per cent of persons aged 21 and up, by March 31, says Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.
This is despite criticisms by various quarters on its security including from Sarawak state government and calls to defer its closing date by Sabah deputy chief minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan.
Rafizi said the government saw about 400,000 registrations just yesterday.
"So far, when we see from the past week, the numbers are increasing by the day and I think it's our culture to be last minute.
"Yesterday, the number of verification reached 400,000 and all counters throughout February have reached about 50,000 to 70,000 a day.
"Since our first press conference on March 18, it has jumped from 70,000 to 220,000 every day until yesterday. Whether it will jump further, I can't say.
"We have reached about 8.4 million (adult) registrations today so we should be able to cross 10 million," he said to reporters after soft launching the KL20 summit.
Rafizi said 10 million adults was a good number as there were nine million households which meant that most households had registered.
Meanwhile, regarding the concerns of the Sarawak government on Padu, he said the matter only involved a few leaders.
He said the state government supported the development of the system and Sarawak recorded the highest registration rate.
"The issues raised were magnified because the decision to develop Padu, although decided by the Cabinet, was approved both at the Federal and State levels.
"The decision on Padu was made following discussions by the National Statistics and Data Council chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof) from Sarawak.
"Moreover, it was approved at the Menteri Besar and Heads of State Governments Meeting. There were no issues as it received support from all, in fact, Sarawak recorded the highest registration rate," he said.
On Jeffrey Kitingan's views, he said they did not represent the state government's.
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"Instead, the Sabah state government requested the establishment of a special committee to expand the registration of Padu in the state and extend the registration period so that more Sabahans can register," he said.