Fahmi: PM Anwar set two-week deadline for idea to ramp up digital ID registration after rapping Science Ministry for delay
PUTRAJAYA, Dec 6 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wants the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to present an idea on how to ramp up registration for the controversial MyDigital identification within two weeks, Communication Minister Fahmi Fadzil said today.
Earlier this week, Anwar reprimanded the ministry after it was revealed that just over a million people had registered to date.
“The PM felt this number is just too low and effort to get more to register must be doubled,” Fahmi said at the weekly post-Cabinet meeting press conference here.
“So MyDigital ID has been given a short period of two weeks from the meeting the other day and a decision will be made on how to increase the registration rate.”
During his monthly meeting with Finance Ministry staff, Anwar called the delay a “negligence” and said that he was not happy.
During the press conference, Fahmi revealed that only 1.1 million people have registered for the single-sign-on system that the public was only made aware of in October, when the Road Transport Department said only those registered can access their digital road tax and licence.
The system is operated by MyDigital ID Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Mimos Berhad, under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.
Yesterday, Anwar said that the rollout of MyDigital ID is a year behind schedule, and that it has caused him to “lose some patience”.
But Fahmi said the prime minister had described his critique as “out of character”, and had apologised for it before all Cabinet members.
“The prime minister at today’s meeting apologised to all that attended or he explained why he apologised. To use an English expression, he said [what he did] was out of character and that he felt both initiatives should move faster,” the communication minister said.
The second issue Fahmi referred to was the rollout of the second 5G network, which Anwar also touched on at the Finance Ministry monthly gathering yesterday.
Fahmi said the share holding agreement with Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) was stalled because of hesitation from telecommunication firms, which is delaying the target for full 5G network rollout.
He added that Anwar had instructed DNB to present a “business plan” on how it could speed up the process by the end of this month.
“Both DNB and U Mobile had been asked to present a business model but the MCMC said U Mobile had presented a business plan earlier this week but DNB was given until next week,” Fahmi said.
“They actually asked that they be given until January but the prime minister insisted that that plan is ready by this month.”
