Pakistan Flooding News

EDMONTON — The Alberta government announced Monday it will donate half-a-million dollars to the Red Cross’s flood relief work in Pakistan.

The $500,000 donation matches the province’s donation to the Red Cross in January, after a massive earthquake in Haiti.

“Like many Albertans and Canadians, I have been shocked to see the devastation in Pakistan from the serious flooding that has occurred in the past three weeks,” Premier Ed Stelmach is quoted as saying in a news release issued by the government Monday.

The funding comes from the province’s Other Initiatives Program, through the department of culture and community spirit.

Charities and international organizations are calling the disaster in Pakistan the country’s worst crisis since partition from India more than 60 years ago. But while calling for more funding on the weekend, the United Nations also argued cash to get the nation back on its feet has been slow coming.

The UN estimates one in 10 Pakistanis or as many as 20 million people — are directly or indirectly affected by the floods.

With files from Agence France-Presse