Bangkuai (fifth from right) meeting with the St Vitus Poturidong Church management committee.
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government has been urged to increase the allocation for non-Muslim bodies in the state in appreciation of their role in promoting greater communal cohesion.
State Tourism, Culture and Environment Assistant Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said he believed Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor has their best interests at heart and would consider upping allocations for non-Muslim religious bodies as state revenue increases.
"The state government recognises the importance of supporting non-Muslim religious institutions, which can assist in the upkeep and repair of churches or temples and aid their social service programmes," he said in a statement here on Thursday (March 30).
The Kiulu assemblyman conveyed this to the St Vitus Poturidong Church management committee during a gathering on Wednesday (March 29).
Bangkuai also approved RM23,000 from his assemblyman allocation to help the church carry out necessary repairs.
During the meeting, he said that as a multi-ethnic society, Sabah had always fostered a climate of religious tolerance as reflected in the proximity of its many temples, churches and mosques.
"Sabah has long been a welcoming place for people of different faiths to live together, and this tolerance is essential to the state's continued stability.
"We must not allow differences to drive us apart. We must continue to lead by example in fostering religious plurality and tolerance in Sabah, where intolerance and bigotry of any kind have no place," Bangkuai added.
This, he added, can lead to greater understanding and respect between different religious groups, which can in turn contribute to social harmony.
