PUTRAJAYA: The Government is taking steps to check unauthorised access to secret government documents and leakages of such information in the wake of recent cases involving highly classified papers.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said yesterday a committee headed by the Government's Chief Security Officer would be set up to tackle the problem because the number of such leaks was increasing.

"For instance, opposition leaders have received secret government documents and information on tenders it had approved and government transactions with banks," he said.

He was speaking to reporters after opening the "Millennium Era Seminar and Security Exhibition" here.

Dompok said the committee would operate under the the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972 and other relevant laws to plug such leakages of information.

"We are gathering information on some of the leakages that have taken place before we decide on the action to take," he added.

The committee, Dompok said, was also necessary to stop unauthorised people from prying into government secret files.

"The Government wants to safeguard the good name of the country in the eyes of international investors," he said.

Dompok said leaked government secrets could be manipulated by certain quarters to destabilise the country and jeopordise its sovereignty.

He urged the public to protect the country's sovereignty by not leaking government secrets or getting involved with those who leaked the information.

Committee will be set up immediately, says official

Dompok said the committee would also be entrusted with the task of exploring the need for a new set of laws to deal with this matter.

"It will also consider any new measures that ought to be taken to enhance the level of national security and the need to include extra security features to present procedures," he said.

Chief Security Officer Wan Mohd Safian said his department would set up the committee immediately and submit a report on its responsibilities and scope to the minister within three months.

On Jan 14, Parti Keadilan National Youth chief Mohamad Ezam Mohd Noor claimed trial at the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court to wrongfully communicating official secrets under the OSA.

Mohd Ezam was charged with possessing official secrets contravening the Act and directly communicating these secrets, which were classified reports titled: THE Anti-Corruption Agency's investigations into International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Rafidah Aziz; and THE Anti-Corruption Agency's investigations into Malacca Chief Minister Tan Sri Rahim Tamby Chik.

He is alleged to have given the documents to journalists at the Keadilan headquarters in Petaling Jaya on Nov 6.

In March, Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Wira Mohd Ali Rustam said that staff of Bank Islam and the Bumiputra-Commerce Bank branches in the state had leaked government transactions to the public.