Recipients of Unifor funding reminded to use allocations according to plan

KUCHING (Jan 28): Recipients of funding for houses of worship under the Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) must utilise allocations strictly according to approved plans and submit progress reports, said Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.

Uggah, who also oversees Unifor, said failure to submit progress reports or utilise the allocated funds would result in no further funding being approved and future applications from the same house of worship would not be considered.

“Some of them have the habit of saving the money. It’s good, saving the money is good, but it doesn’t serve the purpose to build a house. We hope to do our best to monitor all these products,” said Uggah when met by reporters after the Unifor 2025 Phase 4 Cheque Presentation Ceremony for houses of worship at Wisma Bapa here yesterday.

During the cheque presentation, a total of RM13.6 million was handed over to constituency representatives for 71 projects under Unifor 2025 Phase 4 projects.

For 2026, Uggah said Unifor has allocated RM90 million for houses of worship and RM30 million for mission schools.

He also reminded all 2026 project applications to Unifor must be submitted by the end of February to ensure smooth approval and disbursement of funds.

He stressed that delaying the submissions would affect the evaluation, approval and fund disbursement process.

“Last year, we faced several issues. That is why we are asking all YBs as well as the management of houses of worship to submit their applications early, no later than the end of February, so that the process can be expedited and the same problems do not recur,” he said.

He added that the Sarawak government plans to disburse the funds via cheque as early as June, but this can only be realised if the applications are submitted early.

According to him, there were 309 projects approved last year, excluding Phase 4 projects, of which 285 have yet to submit progress reports.

“Maybe they just received the funds…but we are monitoring them because our team are very active in site visits to engage with them,” he said.

Uggah also addressed concerns over project cost estimates, clarifying that higher figures submitted to Unifor were applications rather than claims.

He said the Public Works Department (JKR) is now assisting Unifor by providing quantity surveyors and architects to assess and verify project costs.

“With JKR’s bill of quantities, the prices of materials used for contracts are fixed and cannot be deviated from,” he said.

In his speech earlier, Uggah said Unifor was also deliberating applications involving the purchase of land for cemeteries, noting that the issue required careful consideration due to potential implementation challenges.

He cited a past proposal involving the construction of a highway to a cemetery, which he rejected after questioning the project’s feasibility and the applicants’ capacity to carry it out.

However, he said applications to purchase land for cemeteries could still be discussed further, subject to approval from the Premier, adding that this was an area where assistance might be needed by certain communities.