KUCHING, Sept 2 — Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah today issued a reminder that only houses of worship registered with the Registrar of Societies (RoS) or the state Missionary Societies Ordinance (MSO) are eligible to receive financial assistance from the Unit for Other Religions (Unifor).
He said there are groups that have started setting up houses of worship because they know Unifor has money to be given out.
He said there will be problems if Unifor starts issuing funds to any group that requests for it.
“So, we have to make sure that only registered non-Islamic houses of worships receive the funds,” he said when handing over allocations RM38.747 million to 52 Gabungan Parti Sarawak’s (GPS) state and federal lawmakers on behalf of churches and temples.
Uggah also asked the lawmakers to assist Unifor in determining how much allocations should be given to churches or temples in their constituencies.
“If there is a need to build a new church costing RM1 million, then they ask for RM3 million with your support, but when we ask why the large amount, it will become an issue later,” Uggah, who is also the minister in charge of non-Islamic religions, said.
He also said Unifor will continue to monitor how allocations are being used by the churches and temples.
He said the money is used for which it is applied.
Uggah thanked Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg for allocating RM50 million this year for Unifor and another RM70 million for the construction of Unifor’s building.
He said RM38.747 million of out RM50 million was for 298 applications from the non-Islamic houses of worship for the construction of new buildings, extensions to existing buildings, and repairs on old buildings.
He added the remaining allocation will be given out later this year.
He also said the state government allocated RM30 million last year and RM20 million in 2018 to Unifor.
