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Sarawak Federal deputy minister under ACA investigation: one down and four to go – Who is he?
Media Statement by Lim Kit Siang (Parliament, Thursday): Rural and Regional Development Deputy Minister Datuk Dr. Tiki Lafe has excluded himself as the Sarawak Federal deputy minister who is under Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) investigation for malpractice. He said in Putrajaya yesterday that he had not been approached by the ACA in connection with any investigation and he was not aware of any such investigation. (Sun) This is one down and four to go to identify the Sarawak Federal deputy minister concerned, as there are presently five deputy ministers from Sarawak at the federal level, viz: Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum (Foreign Affairs), Datuk Robert Lau Hoi Chew (Housing and Local Government), Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas (Transport) and Joseph Entulu Belaun (Prime Minister’s Department) apart from Datuk Dr Tiki Lafe (Rural and Regional Development). If the Sarawak deputy minister concerned is not prepared to own up and admit that he is under ACA investigation, then the other three Sarawak deputy ministers should take a leaf from Tiki and publicly exclude themselves from public speculation as being the subject of ACA investigation. In the Berita Harian yesterday, outgoing Sarawak ACA director Mohd Jamidan Abdullah, who revealed that a federal deputy minister from Sarawak is being investigated by ACA for malpractice, also said that ACA investigation had started since last November under Section 11(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1997. The report said: “Siasatan itu dijalankan selepas BPR menerima aduan awam yang mendakwa berlaku penyelewengan dalam pembinaan sebuah pusat latihan di kawasan Parlimen diwakili timbalan menteri berkenaan yang berusia 50-an.” The next step of public speculation to identify the deputy minister concerned would be focused on which of the four remaining Sarawak Deputy Ministers concerned are in the 50s-age group. It would be better all round for public integrity that there is a proper identification of the deputy minister concerned than to let speculation to take wings and to put unfair pressure on the deputy ministers who are not implicated and their families. |