By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Dec 5: The Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) has reminded its recipients that continued funding depends on their ability to show how previous allocations were spent, complete with progress updates.
In a Sarawak Public Communication Unit (Ukas) report, Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who is also the minister overseeing Unifor, said that there were 154 projects that had yet to submit any reports on the status of the allocations provided.
“We are asking recipients to provide us with reports as soon as possible because we have a policy. First, if the allocation for that year has not been spent, we will not consider providing allocations next year.
“The same goes for projects that do not provide reports because this is important, it involves accountability and the governance that we have set,” he said when met by the media after the Unifor Phase 3 Cheque Handover Ceremony 2025 at Wisma Bapa Malaysia on Thursday (Dec 4).
He stressed that the move was important to ensure that every project that received funds could be properly monitored and comply with government audit procedures.
“This report is important because the audit wants to know the progress of the project, what has happened, and who benefits. If the representatives can ensure that the recipient submits the report as soon as possible, it will be greatly beneficial to us,” he said.
Uggah also informed that Unifor will continue to collaborate with the Public Works Department (JKR) to involve quantity surveyors in assessing the cost of each house of worship project.
This step, he said, is important to ensure that the project is implemented in a structured manner and based on professional evaluation.
He also reminded Unifor about aid checks reported to have expired because they were not delivered immediately, stressing the importance of early delivery to recipients to expedite project implementation on the ground.
During the ceremony, RM40.5 million was distributed to 51 representatives to implement 138 reconstruction or repair projects for houses of worship of other religions throughout Sarawak.
Also present were Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Professor Dr Sim Kui Hian, Sarawak Minister for Transport Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin, Minister in the Sarawak Premier’s Department Dato Sri John Sikie Tayai, Deputy Minister of Health Dato Lukanisman Awang Sauni, Sarawak Deputy Minister for Transport Datuk Dr Jerip Susil, and Unifor director Dato Georgina Apphia Ngau. — DayakDaily
