FINANCIAL allocations given by the Unit For Other Religion (UNIFOR) in Sarawak to non-Muslim religious bodies for construction and repair of houses of worship must be utilised within one year, said the unit's state director.
"The funds are to be utilised for the construction or repair of houses of worship and education centres such as mission schools," Sarawak Public Communications Unit said, adding the advisory was issued by UNIFOR state director Datuk Jack Aman.
"We have approved numerous projects and once the funds are channeled, we expect the funds to be utilised.
"These projects must be carried out within one year (after the money has been disbursed)."
UNIFOR will tighten its scrutiny on how huge government financial allocations for non-Muslim religious organisations are being used.
"There is a need for stricter monitoring as there are cases of big amounts of money given to certain religious organisations for building projects but these projects had not been carried out," Aman said in Kuching.
"The money that UNIFOR allocated to religious organisations is based on the sums they had requested. However, there are cases where certain projects had not started despite the money already being disbursed.
"The UNIFOR money cannot be diverted for other purposes.
"The money cannot be redirected into fixed deposit accounts as savings and not being utilised for the intended building projects."
Aman said for this year, the state government had allotted RM110 million for non-Muslim religious bodies in Sarawak - RM90 million for building and repair of houses of worship while the other RM20 million is for education centres like mission schools.
UNIFOR was established when Tan Sri Adenan Satem was chief minister. He passed away in 2017.
The present administration under Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg had continued giving UNIFOR annual allocations for disbursements. – June 28, 2024.
