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Shenzhen donates prefabricated houses to Typhoon-hit Taiwan

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-18 13:26

People attend a donation ceremony for the typhoon-hit Taiwan at Yantian Port in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, Aug 17, 2009. [Xinhua]

The first batch of 100 prefabricated houses donated by Shenzhen, a booming city in southern China, left Yantian Port Monday evening for Taiwan's Kaohsiung port.

The Shenzhen government decided to donate 1,000 prefabricated houses, which cover more than 50,000 sq m with a worth of nearly 20 million yuan ($2.9 million).

More than 500 workers started producing the houses Saturday and finished the first 100 houses Monday, said Wang Zeming, manager of Shenzhen Yahgee Modular House Co Ltd.

Morakot, the worst typhoon to hit Taiwan in nearly five decades, wreaked havoc across central and southern Taiwan.

A vessel carrying prefabricated houses donated by Shenzhen is to leave Yantian Port in Shenzhen, Aug 17, 2009.[Xinhua]

At least 126 people were killed and 61 others were still missing by 8 am Monday, according to local disaster response authorities. Another 45 people were injured.

The authorities said the figures excluded villagers in Kaohsiung, with whom they had lost contact.

China's Red Cross Society announced Monday that it would donate the second batch of 6.85 million yuan ($1 million) to Taiwan for disaster relief construction in the areas damaged by typhoon Morakot.

The society provided 15 million yuan to the typhoon-affected people in Taiwan on Aug 12 via the Red Cross organization on the island.

A statement released by the mainland's Red Cross Society on Monday said it was willing to provide any support and aid possible for the disaster-hit areas on the island.

Beijing-based All-China Women's Federation sent a letter of condolence to women's organizations in Taiwan to express the concerns of women on the mainland to the great loss on the island.

Related readings:  Taiwan looking into blame after typhoon  Mainland aid leaves for typhoon-hit Taiwan  Typhoon aid arrives in Taiwan  US plane delivers relief to typhoon-hit Taiwan?

The federation said it had raised 1 million yuan and would donate the fund to women and children affected by the disaster. The donation would be conveyed by mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits to Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation.

The Red Cross Society of China's southwestern Sichuan province, which was hit by the 8.0-magnitude earthquake last year, launched a ten-day donation-raising campaign which started on Monday.

The provincial civil servants have donated over 200,000 yuan, it said. All the donation will be submitted to the Red Cross Society of China before sending to its counterpart in Taiwan.

In Zhejiang, managers of the Xitianmu Mountain, the "sister mountain" of Mount Ali in Taiwan, planned to donate part of the ticket revenue.

Many prefabricated houses manufacturers in Zhejiang have been ready to produce more houses whenever the Taiwan compatriots need.

"The Taiwan compatriots and enterprises showed generosity in helping the quake-relief work last year. Now survivors in Taiwan are not alone to fight disasters," said Cheng Jianhua, director of the Taiwan Affairs Office in Jiaxing City. "We are firmly behind them."