The government is drafting a proposal binding enforcement agencies to provide regular updates on the status and outcome of their investigations into alleged corrupt practices.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Rais Yatim, who is working on the proposal, said the progress reports will ensure that the government and those who lodge complaints against corruption know what is happening to the cases.

The proposal will involve the Anti-Corruption Agency, the Attorney-General's Chambers and the police. It will be enforced once it gets the Cabinet's nod.

"There is a need to create a mood of what to expect next after lodging a complaint with any of these agencies because only then can public confidence be restored. But the agencies must first be more open and transparent.

"I'm in the midst of creating a module of action requiring them to provide scheduled progress reports on their investigations and need a bit more time to put together a proper mechanism," he told malaysiakini when contacted today.

Rais said even the government is in the dark regarding the status and outcome of some of the investigations.

"Such matters should not be couched in official phrases like 'the prosecution of a case is a discretionary matter and there is no need to tell you our next action'."

21 cases still unknown

Rais, blaming enforcement agencies last week for sitting on high-profile cases of criminal breach of trust without any definite outcome, said public feedback showed that the status of 21 cases which have been investigated for a long time remained unknown to the public.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad conceded that there was some truth to Rais' claims, and admitted that some prominent people had been made to look guilty because the progress of the investigations had not been publicised.

"By right, if these people had been found innocent, then the public should be informed accordingly," he had said.

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had earlier given an assurance that the government will not close the files or hinder the prosecution of any criminal case.

Following that, the New Straits Times quoted federal police commercial crimes division director Maizan Shaari as saying that the police will try and settle cases quickly under investigation regardless of the complexity.

In response to Abdullah's statement, DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang asked the government to present a White Paper on the status of investigations into high-profile corruption cases in the past decade, when Parliament reconvenes on June 17 to prove its commitment to solve those cases.

He cited the decade-long RM10 billion Perwaja Steel scandal as an example of a case that has remained under wraps for years without any progress being revealed.