KUCHING: Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas has reminded recipients of the Religious Places of Worship fund to use their allocations strictly for the purposes as proposed and planned.
He said the allocations were provided with the objective of helping houses of worship be rebuilt or repaired, and reiterated that the Unit for Other Religions (UNIFOR) needed timely reports to monitor progress and determine the next steps for each project.
“We want recipients to use the funds accordingly and submit a report to UNIFOR so that we are aware of the progress and the way forward for their respective houses of worship,” he said during the Phase 3 – Cheque Presentation Ceremony for the Other Religion Places of Worship 2025, held at Wisma Bapa Malaysia today.
Under this phase, 51 state assemblymen and Members of Parliament received approvals for a total of 138 projects amounting to RM40.58 million.
Uggah stressed that accountability and governance remain key principles in managing the fund, adding that next year’s allocations could be affected if recipients failed to comply with reporting requirements.
“There are 154 projects that have not submitted any reports on the status of the allocations they received. We are asking them to provide these reports as soon as possible,” he said.
He added that UNIFOR has a clear policy – if the allocation for the year has not been spent, or if there is no report submitted, applications for the following year will not be considered.
“This is the accountability and governance that we want to uphold. Therefore, we hope the recipients will cooperate,” he said.
Uggah also noted that the Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg allocates funding to UNIFOR annually, with RM110 million set aside this year, while next year’s allocation will be announced soon.
“He has assured me that he will continue to support UNIFOR’s programmes,” he added.
