Over $4 mln of public donations raised in Macao for earthquake relief

Over $4 mln of public donations raised in Macao for earthquake relief

Donations to the Sichuan earthquake victims from Macao citizens and companies exceeded 34 million patacas (4 mln U.S. dollars) so far, according to the figures released Wednesday respectively by the Macao Red Cross and the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR).

The Liaison Office received over 28 million patacas (3.5 million U.S. dollars) of donations from some local companies and businessmen, while Macao Red Cross received 6.3 million patacas ( 787,500 U.S. dollars) to date.

Meanwhile, many Macao citizens also expressed their willingness to donate the 5,000-pataca (625 U.S. dollars) direct subsidy, which the SAR government was set to allocate to the city's permanent residents in July, to the victims of Sichuan earthquake.

The quake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, rocked the Wenchuan County of China's Sichuan province at 2:28 p.m. on Monday, according to the China Seismological Bureau.

Total public donations in both cash and goods to the quake-hit areas had risen to 877 million yuan as of 4 p.m. on Wednesday, according to China's Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Some 2,714 migrant workers from Sichuan currently worked in Macao, most of whom has got in touch with their families in Sichuan, according to the Employment Agencies Association of China Capital (Macao).

2008-05-14