Dewan Negara to debate MySejahtera issues today - Rais

KUALA LUMPUR: The Dewan Negara will debate a motion on the MySejahtera application today, after obtaining the consent of its president, Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim.

Rais said the motion, tabled by Senator Muhammad Zahid Md Arip, had fulfilled three conditions under Standing Order 17 (1) of the Dewan Negara, namely of a definite matter, urgent and of public importance.

"I have received a notification of motion under Standing Order 17 (1) by Senator Muhammad Zahid Md Arip on March 29, and it should be given due attention.

"According to Standing Order 17 (3), this motion will be debated today, Thursday, March 31, in this Dewan Negara. I allow the proposer to debate for 30 minutes, and the government will respond for 30 minutes, subject to requests and statements, and the honorary members can join the debate," he said after the question and answer session.

Muhammad Zahid, when tabling the motion, asked the Dewan Negara to debate the controversy over the security of personal data of Malaysians in the MySejahtera application, following the move to choose private company MySJ Sdn Bhd to continue managing the application.

He said important individuals in the company also had a direct relationship and connection with the company KPISoft Sdn Bhd, which developed the application.

"Therefore, this motion needs to be expedited because there is a concern that the data can be misused, and if that happens it will only provoke the people's anger towards the government.

"Apart from that, my motion involves the interest of the public which needs a detailed explanation by the Ministry of Health, because MySejahtera is the only application that is required to be used by the people," he said.

According to Muhammad Zahid, any failure of the government to come forward to respond to perceptions, allegations and accusations on the MySejahtera controversy will only send the wrong message and will hamper and cripple efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

-- BERNAMA