Church leaders attend course on Unifor applications
MIRI: Church leaders must familiarise themselves on the roles and functions of the Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) as well as methods to apply for Unifor grants to upgrade their church buildings or build new ones.
To expedite this, Mulu assemblyman Datuk Gerawat Gala has teamed up with Unifor to organise a course for chairmen of Borneo Evangelical Mission and Catholic churches from Mulu constituency here.
Gerawat said the course serves to inform church leaders on the function of Unifor, how to apply for the Unifor grant and the relevant documents to be submitted in support of their application.
“This will avoid unnecessary delays due to mistakes or insufficient supporting documents,” he told reporters after the course held at Mulu Constituency Service Centre here yesterday.
Gerawat revealed that the state government has allocated RM30 million for Unifor for next year.
“We thank the state government for setting up Unifor to look after the welfare of all the other religious faiths other than the Muslims, and for increasing the annual allocation to Unifor from RM20 million in 2018 to RM30 million for 2019,” he added while advising churches to submit their applications early for upgrading existing premises or constructing new ones.
Meanwhile, organising chairlady Katheline Killah said over 20 participants comprising chairmen and secretaries of 10 churches randomly picked from around Mulu constituency attended the course.
— Datuk Gerawat Gala, Mulu assemblyman
“This course is more like a comprehensive workshop and was divided into two main parts. The first part was to understand the roles of Unifor and the second part teach them how to fill in the form to apply for Unifor grant.
“Once the application form has been completed, they will send it back to us at this service centre and we will bring it to Kuching for further action,” she said.
The course was conducted by Unifor’s acting chairman of infrastructure development and asset management division Stenlee Kunchet, public relations officer for northern region (Bintulu, Miri, Limbang ) Nira Edora and secretariat Chan Siew Fong.