Minister urges central region churches to plan for urban cemeteries

SIBU (Sept 1): Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom urges church leaders in the central region to make immediate plans for new Christian cemeteries in urban areas.

The Minister of Food Industry, Commodities and Regional Development Sarawak said the matter is an urgent need as the population continues to grow in major towns, such as Sibu and Sarikei.

Dr Rundi highlighted a situation in Bintulu, where a new burial ground had been established far from the town centre, creating challenges from those residing in the city.

“There are many people working and living in Bintulu. Therefore, I sought to create a larger burial ground for the Christian community in upper Sebuah.

“In order to do so, we applied through the Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) Charitable Trust for a new site from the Land and Survey Department. From there, we managed to receive 60 hectares of land,” he said.

Dr Rundi, who is also Kemena assemblyman, said this in his address before presenting Unifor funds totalling over RM1 million to six missionary schools in Sarikei, Meradong, and Sibu today.

The schools were: Methodist Primary School Sibu, SMK Methodist Sibu, SK Methodist Anglo-Chinese, SJK Su Kwong, SJK Tong Hua, and SMK Tong Hua.

Also present was Sarawak Agriculture Department director Dominic Chunggat.