The government of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Friday announced that an amount of 12 million patacas (US$1.52 million) will be donated for relief and rehabilitation work in Typhoon-stricken Taiwan.

Of the total donations, some 10 million patacas (US$1.27 million) came from the SAR government while another 2 million patacas (US$253,165) were donated by the government-run Macao Foundation, according to a press release from the SAR government's Information Bureau.

All of the donations will be made through the Macao Red Cross, the Bureau also said.

In addition to the financial aid from the SAR government, Macao Red Cross said that it has received over 3.4 million patacas (US$430,379) in donation from local businessmen and civil groups for Taiwan's disaster relief.

The death toll from Typhoon Morakot, which caused the worst floods Taiwan has seen in 50 years, could reach more than 500, Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou said on Friday.

Previously, Hong Kong SAR government announced that it has recommended an amount of 50 million HK dollars (US$6.3 million) in aid for Taiwan's typhoon victims, which still needs to be examined by the HK SAR' s Legislative Council.

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2009)