Investigations against a federal deputy minister from Sarawak by the Anti-Corruption Agency for alleged corruption are still on, the outgoing state agency director, Mohd Jamidan Abdullah, said today.

When told that the five deputy ministers from Sarawak -- Joseph Salang (foreign affairs), Robert Lau (local government and housing), Dr Tiki Lafe (national and rural development), Douglas Uggah Embas (transport) and Joseph Entulu (Prime Minister's Department) have all denied they are the subject of investigations, he told malaysiakini : "They can say whatever they want but our investigations are continuing."

However, when asked when the probe was expected to be completed, he replied: "I don't want to comment on that."

Since Jamidan revealed the probe on a deputy minister whom he did not name earlier this week, there has been intense speculation on the identity of the subject, with almost no name being spared, prompting the five deputy ministers from Sarawak to come out with denials, one after another.

The last to issue a denial was Salang, the Julau MP, who said last night that he was not aware of any investigations being conducted on him nor had anyone from the agency approached him.

At a function covered by the media on Tuesday, Jamidan mentioned in his speech that a state politician was being investigated for alleged malpractice.

Not saying more

When reporters asked him later, all he said was that the politician is a deputy minister from Sarawak and that the investigations underway since November last year is under Section 11a of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In spite of pressure from the public, the outgoing ACA chief was clearly not in the mood to acquiesce, saying he was not going to say anything more on the matter.

Douglas told malaysiakini on Thursday that the five would hold a meeting on Monday in Parliament House to discuss the next course of action they should take following Jamidan's public statement.

On Tuesday, Jamidan also disclosed that the ACA had completed investigations on 14 officers in the Kuching City North Commission (DBKU) in connection with the awards of contracts worth about RM3.4 million.

He added that the agency had recommended that the seven be charged for corrupt practices and that the rest be subject to internal disciplinary action.

It is understood that among the contract awards was the cleaning of the Sarawak River..