S’wak gives RM110mil grant for religious coexistence

KUCHING: Sarawak’s Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) has continued to support mission schools and houses of worship with financial assistance totalling RM110mil this year.

Deputy Premier Datuk Douglas Uggah (pic) told the Sarawak Legis­la­tive Assembly that this reflected the commitment to interfaith harmony.

He said RM20mil was allocated for mission schools that had been fully disbursed to benefit 155 projects in 126 schools across the state.

“For houses of worship, Unifor has released RM35.78mil covering 171 projects,” he said during his winding-up speech.

He added that the remaining RM54.22mil would be disbursed today.

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, adding that this was in line with the state government’s vision of strengthe­ning social unity as a pillar of its development strategy.

Unifor was set up in 2017 by the Sarawak government for the welfare of non-Islamic religions and to provide financial assistance for the physical development and upgrading of their houses of worship.

It also provides grants for the upgrading and repair of mission schools to improve their facilities and learning environments.