The Malaysian cabinet Wednesday approved the setting up of a National Tsunami Warning Center linking with the US Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, a minister said.

The National Tsunami Warning Center would be under the Science, Technology and Innovations Ministry, its Minister Jamaluddin Mohd Jarjis told reporters after a post-cabinet meeting at the ministry Wednesday.

Since the setting up of the center would take some time, a direct link will be established with the Hawaii center first to obtain critical information and data on earthquakes or tsunamis, Dr Jamaluddin said.

The Meteorological Services Department would make the necessary arrangements to set up the link, he said.

Jamaluddin said the initial link would be established within the next three months with the cooperation of the US center and a technical team would be sent to Hawaii to study the various aspects of the system.

"As for the purchase of the components, we will engage the services of experts and consultants," he said.

However, he said, the financial allocation for the project had not been finalized yet.                        

Jamaluddin said he and Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar would represent the country at a special meeting on the setting up of a regional warning system in Bangkok on Jan. 28.

The Dec. 26 tsunami, triggered by a series of massive earthquakes in the Indian Ocean near Indonesian island of Sumatra, smashed into the coastal countries of the Indian Ocean, destroying villages, flooding cities and killing more than 150,000 people.

(Xinhua News Agency January 12, 2005)