By Jaythaleela K
MIRI, 19 Dec: A new church building to cater to more than 3,000 families of the Roman Catholic community in Permyjaya Miri has been proposed for construction next year.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Transport of Sarawak Datuk Lee Kim Shin on Saturday after attending the blessing ceremony for the newly completed church, St Anthony of Padua in Tudan.
The prayer for the blessing ceremony was carried out by His Grace, Richard Ng, the bishop of Miri diocese.
ST Anthony of Padua in Tudan was just completed recently this year, involving a total cost of RM1.7 million.
The State government has put aside RM850,000 for the construction of the building.
It took about one year for the church to be completed.
The church sits on a 0.7-acre piece of land in Tudan.
“The State government has allocated a 1.5-acre piece of land in Permyjaya opposite E-Mart shopping complex for the construction of the church,” Lee who is also Senadin Assemblyman said
He added, with the numbers of the Roman Catholic community in Permyjaya, there’s a great need to build a church in the area.
According to Father Ng, currently, the catholic community in the area has a small house of worship, but due to Covid-19, they were forced to close the place.
“Most of them come to this church (St Anthony of Padua in Tudan) ever since,” he added.
After the blessing ceremony, Lee has also presented RM10,000 from his Minor Rural Fun Project (MRP) to help provide other facilities such as the air-con system for the church.
Also present at the ceremony was Assistant Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Sebastian Ting. -DayakDaily
