The Chinese government has donated 500,000 U.S. dollars to the Maldives government to speed up repairs in a desalination plant and restore water to the capital. The donation was done after the Maldives government announced an estimated 20 million U.S. dollars would be needed to repair the plant that was damaged in a fire on Thursday resulting in the capital's population of 130,000 being without water for four days. The country hopes to also get monetary aid from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and other Arab governments. Private donors have also chipped in with an anonymous 1 million U. S. dollars coming in from a Saudi businessman.