KUCHING – Former Anglican bishop of Kuching and Brunei Datuk Bolly Lapok’s claim, among others, that millions were given to churches in Sarawak as a result of his direct involvement in politics is nothing but an act of self-aggrandisement, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas.
Refuting this allegation, Uggah – who is also minister in charge of the Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) – said Bolly has made some outlandish claims to fame, purportedly to justify his joining of local opposition party Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB).
“We have no issue at all with him joining politics after years and years of service to God.
“But his latest statement to the press is unbecoming of his last office. It is totally devoid of the dignity and virtue of truthfulness,” he said in a statement today.
Bolly – who retired as a priest in 2017 – joined PSB on November 11 ahead of the 12th Sarawak election, with many expecting him to be fielded as a candidate.
However, Bolly reportedly said he would only serve his party as a “special envoy” to campaign for PSB candidates during the election.
Yesterday, The Vibes quoted Bolly as saying that as a direct impact of him joining politics, millions in grants had already been given to churches in Sarawak and Anglican mission schools had received RM6 million.
Uggah said for the record, Unifor has been dispensing financial assistance to churches, temples, and chapels since its inception in 2017, and the state government had increased its yearly allocation to RM50 million since last year.
He said last October, the Gabungan Parti Sarawak-led state government under the leadership of Chief Minister Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg had approved an extra allocation of RM15 million for some 127 mission schools statewide on special operation and administration costs.
Uggah said a further sum of RM5 million has been set aside to assist these churches, chapels, and temples that had seen their weekly collection from the faithful drastically affected due to movement restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“For former prelate Bolly to claim that him joining PSB had resulted in the assistance to be available is a lesson in perplexity and ridiculousness.
“He had only joined PSB in November this year. Either he has been misquoted, or is he suffering from strange delusions of grandeur?” he added. – Bernama, December 12, 2021
