Society

Macao to fund 7 more projects in quake-hit Sichuan

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-06-04 21:28

MACAO - The government of Macao special administrative region (SAR) Friday announced that it would provide funding to another seven reconstruction projects in China's quake-hit Sichuan province.

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This has been the fourth batch of such reconstruction projects that the SAR government funded, and the seven projects, including five education and two health facilities, will cost some 174 million yuan ($25.6 million), according to the SAR government.

The seven projects, recommended by the provincial government of Sichuan, were expected to be completed between 12 to 18 months, and their sites were located in Nanchong and Ya'an, both small cities of the province.

By announcing the funding of the latest batches of reconstruction projects, the SAR has so far committed 4.226 billion yuan ($621 million) to a total of 102 reconstruction projects in the province.

The Magnitude-8.0 earthquake that occurred in Sichuan in May 2008 had led to tens of thousands of deaths. The SAR has since promised to provide a total of 5 billion patacas ($625 million) to assist the post-quake reconstruction in the quake zone.

According to the Sichuan provincial government, the construction of nearly 50 percent of the SAR-funded projects has been carried out.