Sarawak Urges Worship House Projects to Submit Progress Reports

suppadmin | December 5, 2025

The Sarawak Government through the Unit for Other Religions UNIFOR is calling on all recipients of state allocations for houses of worship to submit their project progress reports to ensure smooth implementation and proper monitoring.

Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas revealed that 154 projects have yet to submit any report on the status of their approved allocations.

He said that recipients must comply because UNIFOR has a clear policy.

He said that if an allocation for a particular year is not utilised, the project will not be considered for allocations in the following year. The same applies to projects that fail to provide reports as accountability and good governance are essential.

He stated this when speaking to the media after the UNIFOR Phase Three Cheque Handover Ceremony 2025 held at Wisma Bapa Malaysia on Thursday.

In his earlier speech, the Minister In Charge of UNIFOR stressed that progress reporting is important to ensure every funded project can be monitored properly and meet government audit requirements.

He said the audit process needs to know the progress of the project, what has been carried out, and who benefits from it. He said that if the elected representative can ensure the recipient submits the report promptly, it will greatly assist UNIFOR.

Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah also shared that UNIFOR will continue working with the Public Works Department JKR to involve quantity surveyors in assessing the cost of each worship house project. He said this ensures that every project is implemented in a structured manner and based on professional assessment.

He also reminded UNIFOR about the issue of aid cheques that expired because they were not delivered early. He stressed the importance of issuing the cheques promptly to speed up implementation on the ground.

During the ceremony, RM40.5 million was distributed to 51 representatives to carry out 138 reconstruction or repair projects for houses of worship of other religions throughout Sarawak.

Also present were Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Professor Dr Sim Kui Hian, Sarawak Minister for Transport Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin, Minister in the Sarawak Premier Department Dato Sri John Sikie Tayai, Deputy Minister of Health Dato Lukanisman Awang Sauni, Sarawak Deputy Minister for Transport Datuk Dr Jerip Susil and UNIFOR Director Dato Georgina Apphia Ngau.