By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Oct 22: The Sarawak government, through the Unit for Other Religions (Unifor), has begun disbursing part of its RM90 million allocation for 2025 to support houses of worship of various faiths, with RM35.77 million distributed to 107 projects under the Second Phase of the Fund Assistance for Houses of Worships of Other Religions.
In a Sarawak Public Communication Unit (Ukas) news, Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the funding reflects the State government’s commitment to inclusive and comprehensive development that benefits all religious communities.
“To date, RM35.77 million out of the RM90 million allocation has been channelled to 171 projects under Phase 1 and Phase 2. The remaining funds will be handed over in November,” he said during the presentation ceremony of cheques for the Second Phase of the Fund Assistance for Houses of Worships of Other Religions 2025, held at the Unifor Complex on Tuesday (Oct 21).
He added that Unifor is now enhancing its monitoring mechanisms to ensure that every fund is used prudently and in full compliance with established guidelines.
“We found that there are still 220 houses of worship that have not submitted expenditure reports. Our target is to reduce this figure to zero by December 2025,” he said.
Uggah further emphasised that monitoring is now being carried out directly by Unifor to ensure that each project achieves its intended objective, while advising houses of worship to submit funding applications based on genuine needs.
He also revealed that the Sarawak government has channelled an additional RM20 million for upgrading missionary schools across the State, in line with efforts to strengthen religious and community education infrastructure.
The ceremony also saw the presentation of cheques to 14 elected representatives and recipients representing houses of worship of various religions from across Sarawak.
Among those present were Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Prof Dr Sim Kui Hian, Minister of Transport Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin, Minister in the Premier’s Department Dato Sri John Sikie Tayai, Deputy Minister of Women, Early Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Datuk Rosey Yunus, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Snowdan Lawan and Unifor director Dato Georgina Apphia Ngau. — DayakDaily
