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KUCHING, Aug 18: Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah firmly refutes allegations that the Anglican Church group had enjoyed the lion’s share of funds from the Unit For Other Religions (Unifor) meant to help build, restore, and repair churches, chapels, and temples across Sarawak.
In response to these allegations, Uggah asserted, “This is baseless, just because I belong to the Anglican Church. There is a committee in Unifor which decides on the fund allocation.”
He highlighted this before presenting cheques totalling RM24.490 million to 177 churches and other houses of worship under Unifor’s second phase distribution for this year which were accepted on behalf of the beneficiaries by members of parliament and assemblymembers or their appointed representatives.
Setting the record straight, Uggah, who is Unifor chairman, revealed that a total of 2,453 different houses of worship, encompassing 1,694,142 members, have been registered with the Sarawak government.
Since 2017, he said the Sarawak government had approved and allocated RM333.118 million to these religious establishments.
Detailing the breakdown of this allocation, he highlighted that the Roman Catholic Church had received RM81.558 million or 24.5 per cent for the upkeep of 509 churches and chapels, catering to a congregation of 643,503 members.
“This was followed by the Anglican Church group constituting 21.2 per cent or RM70.519 million to support 300 churches.
“The third biggest amount at RM59.700 million or 17.9 per cent was received by the Borneo Evangelical Mission (BEM) for its 635 churches,” he explained in a statement.
The Methodist Church group received RM27.977 million, and the Seventh Adventist Church was allocated RM12.026 million.
Furthermore, Uggah said the Buddhist group received RM37.060 million (11.1 per cent) to bolster 152 temples.
Additional religious establishments, such as Confucianism, Taoism, and traditional practices, received RM10.198 million. Sikh temples acquired RM9.860 million, Hindu establishments received RM4.260 million, and other religions received varying sums.
“So these are the breakdown. As I have said, the allocation process was executed diligently and judiciously by the governing committee,” he emphasised.
Uggah mentioned that Unifor had also received an application for RM30 million, but it cannot allocate such an amount to a single application.
On another issue, he disclosed that Unifor’s audit team had discovered that some houses of worship that had received the allocation preferred to keep them in their fixed deposit accounts as they are content with their present religious premises.
“This may be wise of them, but our policy now is unless you spend the allocation given, we will not give you the additional fund required even though your church or temple is still not completed,” he explained.
The Sarawak government allocated Unifor a fund of RM100 million this year, and so far, RM30.654 million has been disbursed.
“So we still have a substantial balance. Those who require the fund, please send us your application as soon as possible,” he encouraged.
Deputy Premier Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian, Minister of Woman, Childhood and Community Well-Being Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah and Minister in the Premier’s Department Datuk John Sikie Tayai were present. — DayakDaily
