KOTA SAMARAHAN: Investigations by the Anti- Corruption Agency (ACA) on issues surrounding the construction of Kuching Central Prison is at the final stage.

State ACA director Mohamad Yusoff Akope said the investigation was almost completed and a full report would be submitted to the agency’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur next month.

“We (ACA) have almost completed the investigation and we will submit the report to our headquarters by the middle of next month,” he told reporters after officiating at the closing of the ‘Sik Mok Rasuah’ event at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) new campus here yesterday.

He declined to elaborate on the outcome of the investigation and whether individuals or companies were implicated, adding that further action would only be taken by the headquarters.

According to him, the prerogative to implicate or prosecute rests with the ACA Legal and Prosecution Unit, when the full report of the investigation was submitted.

The construction of the prison complex at Km23 Jalan Puncak Borneo near here started in May 1997 at an initial cost of RM165 million and was scheduled for completion in August 2000.

However, the contract of the previous contractor was terminated for failing to complete the project and also for ‘causing many problems’.

The project was undertaken by another contractor since September 2005 with an additional allocation of RM43.7 million.

The additional allocation was revealed by Public Works Department (JKR) during a briefing for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in April this year.

Abdullah had also directed a thorough investigation into the matter.

The new complex is located on a 103-hectare site.

On another subject, Yusoff said the ACA was not focusing on the police alone in graft investigations, adding that the recent cases involving police officers were only a coincident.

He was responding to questions whether ACA was directing its attention at the police in view of some cases involving policemen recently.

The most recent case was the arrest of a 51-year old police officer with the rank of chief inspector from Tatau police station for alleged corruption.

The officer was arrested by ACA Bintulu branch for asking RM1,000 as an inducement to settle the case against the complainant whose employer was earlier arrested by the police.

Meanwhile, he appealed to the public to provide information to the ACA to enable the agency to carry out its graft probes more effectively.