Malaysia sends rescue workers to quake-hit Japan

PEKAN (Malaysia), March 12 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is rushing disaster
assistance personnel, sniffer dogs and doctors to help with search and rescue
efforts in Japan where an earthquake and tsunami Friday left more than 1,000
people dead and several more missing.

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who announced this Saturday, said 15
members of the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART),
several doctors and medical assistants and six sniffer dogs would leave for
Japan in two C-130 aircraft at 6pm Saturday.

"This (assistance) demonstrates our sympathy and support for the government
and people of Japan," he told reporters after a visit to the Universiti Malaysia
Pahang campus here.

Najib said all Malaysians in Japan were reported to be safe.

Asked whether the government would evacuate Malaysians from Japan in view of
a possible radiation leak from nuclear power plants following the earthquake,
the prime minister said the Japanese government would have to determine whether
there was any danger from the plants.

An 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck Japan yesterday afternoon and triggered
a
10-metre high tsunami which lashed onto the northeastern part of the country,
resulting in up to 1,000 people killed in the twin disasters.

Najib said the government would monitor the effects of the disasters on the
country's economy and prices of goods.

He also said that efforts were being made to increase the supply of
essential goods through the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry and
Felda besides encouraging competition among industries with a view to reducing
prices.

The Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry had been
instructed to monitor traders who raised the prices of goods too high, he said.

"We do not want inflation to go up too much. It will be manageable at two
per cent to 2-1/2 per cent," he added.