KUALA LUMPUR: The Government will seek expert advice on whether there is a need to come up with new building guidelines.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said any form of enhancement would cost money and if incorporated into the by-laws would in turn bump up the cost of all buildings.

“In the end, the public will have to pay for it. We have to consider whether it is worthwhile (to do so) because the tremors from earthquakes are really quite minor. They are not the type of tremors that are going to cause extensive or even minor damage to buildings,” he told reporters after launching the Felda Tuition Scheme 2005 yesterday.

Touching on cracks in some buildings following Tuesday's tremors, Najib said that so far the cracks were not so extensive as to cause damage or possible collapse of the buildings.

Asked about a Meteorological Services Department statement that it had still been drafting a statement at 12.45am after the 8.7-magnitude earthquake battered the coast of Sumatra shortly before midnight there on Monday, Najib said the department had been assessing the situation.

“The department took time to come out with a statement on the earthquake because it needed to assess the situation to see whether it would trigger a tsunami.

“If we quickly issue a statement that a tsunami will occur, it will cause a panic. People will start running helter-skelter and accidents could then happen,” he said.

In his speech, Najib said Felda would sponsor the studies of settlers’ children at top universities overseas if they couldsecure their own places after obtaining excellent Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia and Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia results.