KUCHING: Mosque and surau committees are urged to be pro-active in seeking funds for their upgrading projects instead of relying solely on the government.
Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office (Islamic Affairs) Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman said while the government would continue to upgrade old mosques and suraus, there were many that needed immediate attention.
“It’s not easy to provide funds all at the same time. We need to allocate according to priority,” he said.
Daud was speaking to reporters after presenting a federal grant of RM200,000 to the committee of Masjid Darul Ihsan at his office yesterday.
According to the Assistant Minister, construction of most of the newly-built mosques in the state was based on a self-help concept.
“Part of the costs was met by the committee themselves. For example, if the cost was RM2 million, half was covered by the mosque committee. It’s a win-win situation,” he said.
Daud assured the government would not neglect the 1,250 mosques and suraus in the state but pointed out that allocation of funds for improvement would be based on merits.
The cheque for grant was received by mosque committee chairman Junaidi Tomy.