KUCHING: Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg said he will increase the allocation to the Unit For Other Religions (Unifor) next year for distribution to non-Islamic religious bodies.
He said he would discuss with his deputy Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah, who is the minister in charge of the unit, on the amount.
"Definitely, the answer is positive," he said at the Unifor appreciation dinner here last night.
He was responding to Uggah, who in his speech earlier requested for funds for Unifor to be increased for distribution to non-Islamic religious bodies to finance their religious activities and building and upgrading of houses of worship.
Uggah, in his speech, advised non-Islamic religious bodies to utilise all the allocations before they apply for additional funding from the state government for their religious activities and projects.
He said they should not keep the allocations in banks to earn interests but to utilise it to finance their activities and projects.
"The policy stipulates that no additional funding will be allocated to applicants until the current funds have been fully utilised," he said.
Uggah said there are 84 projects that have yet to commence their construction, despite the allocations having already been channelled.
He also called for reports to be expedited on the status of 563 other religious projects.
He said since its establishment in 2017, Unifor has approved and funded 2,255 projects across various sectors, including the construction of new places of worship, upgrading and maintenance of existing facilities, and improvements to religious infrastructures to better serve the communities.
He said Unifor has also channelled funds for the building, upgrading and maintenance of 120 mission schools in Sarawak.
'"As of November, a total of 2,255 projects have been approved, including 909 that have been completed and 654 in progress," he said.
He said the projects also include 84 that have yet to commence their construction and 563 that are still in the reporting phase.
He added a sum of RM385 million was approved from 2017 to 2024 to non-Islamic religions, such as Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Sikhism, Bahá'í, and traditional beliefs.
He said a sum of RM110 million was allocated for both the houses of worship and mission schools this year.
"The funding for 120 mission schools is aimed at building or upgrading school buildings and providing other facilities, benefiting 39,371 students and 3,201 teachers," he said.