Revealing the asset declarations of ministers and their immediate family members to the public should not be done, "as this may endanger them".

"If we make these details public, it may endanger the individuals concerned," Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz said today.

"This is especially so as it will also include personal details, on which we also have laws to protect against indiscriminate distribution," Nazri told a press conference in Putrajaya.

Asked for details of such "dangers", he would only say that disclosing one's personal wealth to the public at large may present dangers if outsiders knew about the extent of the wealth and properties.

Nazri did not want to elaborate on this, though he likened it to company directors whose disclosures may invite similar dangers when people get to know the details of their assets.

Asked about how Pakatan-led Selangor and Penang have made public the assets declaration of their state exco members, Nazri replied that it was a matter of choice.

“That is up to their administration, if they decide to do so,” he said.

'Ask the deputy premier about NFC'

Responding to a question why the assets declaration of ministers and their families will only be given to the PM and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Nazri stressed that even giving a copy of the declaration to the MACC should only be done if there is a need.

“They should only declare to the MACC if there are reports of corruption. There is no need to declare if there are no reports. After all we have already declared it to the PM,” he said.

Yesterday MACC advisory panel chairperson Zaitun Zawiyah Puteh said that family members and spouses of cabinet ministers will have to declare their assets to the anti-graft body soon.

She added that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has agreed in principle and hoped to see the move implemented soon.

This followed the public declaration of assets by state exco members of Pakatan-led Penang, in the footsteps of a similr declaration by Selangor exco members several years ago.

Meanwhile, Nazri refused to comment on how the National Feedlot Corporation could continue to operate its business despite having its assets frozen.

“I don’t know how that is. You have to ask the DPM (Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin),” Nazri remarked.

He also refused to comment on whether the government had dragged its feet in investigating the NFC over alleged misappropriation of funds.

The NFC, owned and operated by the husband and children of federal minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, was caught in the controversy after the Auditor-General’s Report exposed irregularities in its management late last year.