Welcome Monument incurs Rp 254m in damages

JAKARTA (JP): Damage caused during the recent electoral campaign to electrical cables, steel wires and decorative lamps used to light up the 47-meter Selamat Datang (Welcome) Monument has so far reached an estimated cost of Rp 254 million (US$37,910), a city official said.

The head of the city's public roads electrical agency, IGKG Suena, said on Sunday damage calculations had not been finalized.

The latest damage is thought to be the most costly in the 37- year-old statue's history.

"The figure does not even include damages to water pumps surrounding the statue and fountain lamps. We're still calculating," Suena told The Jakarta Post.

"But this amount (Rp 254 million) is close to the final figure," he said.

He insisted that the damages were mainly caused by rowdy political party revelers campaigning around the monument.

Encircled by a 5,030-square-meter pond and a 2,825-square- meter plaza, the Welcome Monument is a 5.5-ton bronze statue of a seven-meter-tall couple standing on a 40-meter base, waving their hands in the air with the female holding a bunch of flowers.

Designed by artist Edhi Sunarso, the monument was inaugurated by first Indonesian president Sukarno in 1962 as a symbol of the friendliness of Indonesians to welcome participants to the fourth Asian Games.

The site in front of Hotel Indonesia was chosen for the monument because it was in the heart of the city and because the hotel was the sole prestigious hotel and building at the time.

During the month-long campaigning activities in May, the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle was chosen by many political parties' revelers as a meeting point for them to air their parties' slogans. Their campaigns caused daily traffic congestion in the vicinity.

According to Suena, the damaged items include 12,500 10-watt bulbs, 2,800 steel wires and 8,840 meters of electrical cables of different power capacity.

The city will need some Rp 30 million for the labor costs, he said.

He said it was likely that 30 percent of the damaged material would be able to be used again. Repairs on the monument have already begun.

"About 30 percent, or Rp 76 million, in the form of wires, lamps and electrical cables might be still usable, while the rest has to be immediately changed," Suena explained.(ylt)