Architect hopes Bali memorial will become beacon of peace

Architect hopes Bali memorial will become beacon of peace

Achmad Sukarsono, Reuters, Bali

An altar, 22 flags, and a wall of granite and limestone engraved
with the victims' names will form the heart of a memorial now
taking shape in Bali to commemorate 202 people killed in last
year's nightclub blasts.

Workers are toiling round the clock to ready the memorial for
unveiling on Oct. 12, the first anniversary of the explosions
that tipped the idyllic resort island into a nightmare from which
it has yet to fully emerge.

"The thing we want the most is the reawakening of Bali," said
I Wayan Gomudha, the 51-year-old architect of the structure.

"This memorial should be the sign of Bali's resilience," he
added. "Our rebirth. Messages of peace should radiate to all
directions from here."

The structure is rising from dusty rubble on a 140-square-
meter plot across the street from the Sari Club, one of two
nightclubs on the beach strip where Muslim militants set off
bombs that dealt a huge blow to this mostly Hindu island's
tourist-driven economy.

It was the world's worst act of terror since the attacks on
America in 2001. While debate rages in New York over the right
way to remember victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bali local
government decided last month to begin work on a memorial.

It followed months of soul-searching and haggling over prime
real estate in the tourist hub of Kuta beach.

Now, with the anniversary just a few days away, the builders
are racing against the clock. "We have to work day and night to
finish the first phase in time," construction supervisor Edi
Setianto said.

The memorial depicts the three stages of Balinese life-cycle
beliefs about the past, present and future.

The first stage -- a reflection on memories of the past -- is
expected to be finished in time for the first anniversary.

It includes an altar, an elaborate granite and limestone wall
engraved with the names of the blast victims and 22 poles for
flags representing the victims' nationalities.

The next phase will be a white limestone structure symbolizing
the present, and forces of procreation.

A water fountain symbolizing the future will be the third. The
government hopes to complete all three phases by next year.

Australia, the nation that lost the greatest number of dead
-- 88 young holidaymakers -- welcomed the gesture of remembrance.
"I think lots of Australians have gone to the areas, and it's
lovely to have a memorial near there," said Kirk Coningham, a
spokesman for the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, referring to the
sites of the Bali carnage.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard is to lead a group of
1,500 survivors and relatives to Bali to mark the anniversary.

Bali continues to suffer fallout, with the flow of Western
tourists cut to a trickle from the throngs of a year ago.

The slump has spurred the government and travel industry to
hold large conventions, concerts and other events to woo back
foreigners, and aggressively chase domestic tourists.

The task of finishing the first phase of the memorial on time
was complicated by problems securing a piece of land on Legian
Street, one of Bali's most expensive and crowded with shops,
nightclubs, hotels and restaurants, a village chief in Kuta said.

"The people who owned the land over there did not want to let
it go at a cheap price," the elder, who declined to be named,
told Reuters.

The government paid about US$100,000 for the plot because the
owner had planned to build shops there. Around Rp 3.7 billion
($438,000) has been earmarked for the entire project.

The haggling over the project wasted much of the year, said
Gomudha, who lectures at Udayana University, the leading college
in Bali. Tired of waiting, he proposed his own design last month.

"I told people, why are we allowing garbage to pile up near
the places where flowers were laid?" he said, referring to the
hundreds of wreaths placed there by visitors.

His plan was accepted and the first phase of the monument is
beginning to take shape.

"At least we have a place now that symbolizes our resilience
and our commitment to stand up against terrorism," he said.