SIBU: Datuk Jack Aman Luat has stressed that recipients of Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) grants must spend the allocated funds within a year before applying for new grants.
The Unifor director expressed concern over instances where funds were not utilised promptly, leading to delays and increased construction costs for places of worship projects.
“We have received applications from several places of worship allocated funds in previous years. However, they did not utilise the disbursed funds, keeping the money in the bank, and subsequently applied for more.
“When we inspect the sites, there was nothing there (implementation of the project) because the money hasn’t been spent.
“For such applications, we will not assist anymore. We want the money to be fully spent, then we can consider giving more.”
He told the media this after a site visit to the Da Wang Gong Salim Temple construction in Jalan Kong Yit Khim here today (Mar 3).
He stated that the practice of saving funds not only hampers the progress of worship projects but also leads to increased construction costs.
He provided an example, stating, “They estimate the project to be RM10mil. So, we (Unifor) give RM1mil per year, but it’s not enough. They want the fund to reach RM10mil before they start. After a few years, the project costs continue to increase due to the rise in building material prices and so on. So, this is what we want to avoid.”
During his visit to the Da Wang Gong Salim Temple construction site, Jack was informed that the project had an estimated expenditure of approximately RM15mil.
Unifor had already disbursed RM1,150,000 to the Da Wang Gong Followers Association to aid in completing the temple.
Da Wang Gong Followers Association Salim Zone 3 chairman Theng Swee Ming, among others, was also present.
