The five deputy ministers from Sarawak will meet in Parliament House on Monday to discuss their next course of action following a revelation by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) that "a deputy minister from Sarawak is under investigation for allegedly taking bribe."

"It is unethical (for the ACA) to make such a public statement without naming anyone because all five of us are now being put on public trial," Deputy Transport Minister Douglas Uggah Embas told malaysiakini in Kuching today.

"This is unfair. We are already judged as guilty in public," he added.

Douglas, who is the MP for Betong and Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu Sarawak (PBB) Youth leader, said he got in touch with the outgoing Sarawak ACA chief Mohd Jamidan Abdullah the day the national radio carried the news report.

"He told me he was pushed to a corner (by reporters) into making the statement," the deputy minister said, adding that he (Douglas) thought it was not good ethics for the ACA to make a general statement that put the five deputy ministers from Sarawak in such bad light.

Jamidan, who is leaving Sarawak to take over as Selangor ACA chief, had told reporters on Tuesday that a deputy minister from Sarawak whom he did not name was being investigated under Section 11a of the Prevention of Corruption Act allegedly for receiving bribe money.

Douglas said he had also asked Jamidan who was being probed and he replied, "It's not you, Datuk."

The other four deputy ministers are Robert Lau (Local Government and Housing), Joseph Salang (Foreign Affairs), Dr Tiki Lafe (National and Rural Development) and Joseph Entulu (Prime Minister's Department).

According to Douglas, Parliament will be hold a special sitting on Monday to discuss amendments to the Constitution on the take-over of state water supplies. Sarawak and Sabah are not affected.

"The five of us will be holding a meeting to discuss the next course of action we should take," he added.

Town Square project

Meanwhile, speculation continues on the identity of the person under probe, but, according to sources, it has narrowed down to one or two names, among whom is Lau.

Sources said aN ACA team was in Sibu at the end of last year to record a statement from Lau, the Sibu MP, on complaints made against him when he was chairperson of the Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) prior to his appointment as deputy minister.

This is said to be connected with the Town Square project which is part of the town's beautification project undertaken by the Sanyan Group.

Meanwhile Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang said the ACA should have identified the deputy minister concerned rather than to allow speculation to take wing which will put unfair pressure on the deputy ministers who are not implicated and their families.

He said that since Tiki has excluded himself from the ACA probe and if the one concerned is not prepared to own up, the others should take a leaf from Tiki and publicly exclude themselves from public speculation as being the subject of the investigations.

Tiki said in Putrajaya yesterday that he had not been approached by the ACA in connection with any investigation nor was he aware of any such probe by the agency.