Workers' monument

Workers' monument

From Suara Karya

We have frequently heard, read or watched reports in the mass media, both print and electronic, about accidents involving construction workers in Jakarta. A great many of them have either lost their lives or become permanently, physically disabled.

They have died because part of a toll road collapsed on them during construction, they fell from a high building or were buried alive when a tunnel for cable or pipe laying caved in.

Most of these workers came from small villages and migrated to the capital to earn some money for their families back home. It is difficult to imagine how the surviving families make ends meet after the death of their primary breadwinner.

As a local resident, I wish to ask the government to establish a construction workers monument. The monument will serve to remind residents that the city's impressive buildings came at a great cost because construction workers made the ultimate sacrifice.

The monument would also serve as a constant reminder of the merits of these workers, who have pushed forward the development of this metropolitan city with their blood, sweat and tears.

In this way, the memory of workers killed on the job will not be so easily forgotten.

Should this proposal be accepted, the monument should take the form of a construction worker with a tool -- such as a hoe, shovel, spade or crowbar -- slung over his shoulder with an open basket and pile of earth to one side and wearing worn-out clothes and a hat with his eyes looking into the distance.

I also wish to propose that the monument be located at the intersection of Jl. Kebon Sirih and Jl. MH Thamrin, where a clock now stands.

The monument should also have the following inscription: "Remember us. With blood and sweat we helped develop this city, leaving behind forever our families who shed tears for us."

I sincerely hope that my proposal will be considered.

NABHANI M ALI

Jakarta