John (fifth right) presents a mock cheque to Babu (third right) while others look on.
SERIAN: A total RM1.46 million were disbursed by Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) to religious bodies in Bukit Semuja constituency last year.
Its assemblyman John Ilus said the allocation was disbursed in two phases, with some receiving the funds earlier this year.
They included Borneo Evangelical Mission (BEM) Serian which received RM100,000. The cheque was presented to Pastor Babu Jau at a simple ceremony yesterday morning.
According to John, the fund would be utilised by the church to upgrade its church building and also building the pastor’s quarters.
After looking at the church and its compound, John advised them to seek for more fund to improve it facilities.
He said he was willing to help them provided that they write officially with proper proposal and application.
“With the ‘Policy Of Inclusiveness’ of our chief minster and Gabungan Parti Sarawak government, I believe the church should move forward so that the church goers will be able to enjoy better facilities,” he said. John later visited several flood-hit places in the constituency to check on the latest situation affecting the people.
He said he had been going to the ground for the past three days to the flooded villages, and visited the victims at evacuation centres where he was also briefed on the latest flood situation.
He thanked all those involved in assisting the flood victims such as the Resident Office, District Office, Police, Civil Defence Force, fire and Rescue Dept, Rela, Welfare Department and Serian District Council.
He also thanked Serian MP and other elected representatives, the Divisional Disaster Management Committee, community leaders and village security and development committees for their assistance to ease the burden of the flood victims.