KUCHING: Sarawak's Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) received RM110mil this year to support houses of worship and mission schools, reflecting the state government's commitment to interfaith harmony.
Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah said RM20mil was allocated for mission schools, which had been fully disbursed.
"This benefited 155 projects across 126 mission schools," he said in his winding-up speech at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly on Wednesday (Dec 3).
For houses of worship, Uggah said Unifor had released RM35.78mil for 171 projects so far.
He said the remaining RM54.22mil will be disbursed on Thursday (Dec 4).
Unifor was established in 2017 by the Sarawak government to support the welfare of non-Islamic religions and to provide financial assistance for the physical development and upgrading of their houses of worship.
The unit also provides grants to upgrade and repair mission schools, improving their facilities and learning environments.
Uggah said the ongoing financial assistance for houses of worship and mission schools was a sustained effort to preserve Sarawak's culture of religious coexistence.
"Sarawak is one of the very few places in the world where multiple faith communities grow, worship and develop side by side without friction," he said.
He added that this aligned with the state government's vision to strengthen social unity as a pillar of its development strategy.
