The church, Santo Alexander, was constructed in the hamlet as home to 66 families or 222 people, where 99 percent of them are Catholic, said Susanto, head of West Kalimantan Sinar Mas group representative office here recently.
Previously, the people in the hamlet should conduct their worship in their neighboring village as far as two kilometers away, he said.
"We develop oil palm for a long term with the concept of environmental care, such as in the social fields including culture," he said, adding that Santo Alexander has the capacity of receiving 150 church goers.
Susanto expressed hopes that the presence of the church could increase the faith and unity of Catholics in the village.
Meanwhile, the Sintang bishop, Mgr Augustinus Agus PR, in his remarks after the inauguration and blessing of the Church hoped that the Catholic adherents building can be further enhanced.
In addition, the Seberuang hamlet community leader, Tobias expressed his appreciation to PT PIP that had assisted the local people in developing the Santo Alexander church.
Head of Semitau sub-district, Iwan Supardi said that the Kapuas Hulu district did not specifically allocate budget for the construction of houses of worship due to limited amount of funds.(*)
(U.A057/f001/H-NG/H-YH )
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
