Maritime Monument design competition comes too late [1]
Saturday, August 14, 2010 - 06:40. Updated on Saturday, May 17, 2014 - 18:14.
Editor,
THE Maritime Monument Design competition launched this week is a sad attempt at reparation that is far too little and comes way too late.
A group of individuals spent the last four months collaborating on a project that was privately funded and donated towards by local businesses in Nuku'alofa in order to erect a memorial to honour the victims of the sunken MV Princess Ashika on the first anniversary of their deaths.
The Tongan government was approached by this group to donate an appropriate piece of land on the waterfront for the monument but the request was denied. This, however, did not act as a deterrent and work forged ahead on the monument regardless. Furthermore, Hon Fakafanua graciously agreed to have the memorial wall erected at Vakataumai on Vuna Rd in Ma'ufanga. It was unveiled on Sunday, August 8, 2010 by HRH Crown Prince Tupouto'a Lavaka - 1 year and 3 days after the doomed ship set sail.
The memorial wall was a selfless gift to the families of the victims in the hope that it would go some way towards appeasing their grief and a sincere and genuine offering to acknowledge the victims and the immense losses their families have suffered.
It was envisioned that the wall would be a peaceful place to visit to celebrate anniversaries such as birthdays, weddings and other great milestones that each and every one of the victims in turn should have celebrated with their loved ones.
The unveiling ceremony conveyed a sense of returning the deceased to their families and Vakataumai was pronounced their 'spiritual resting place.'
The maritime monument design competition is in extremely poor taste - a memorial that 'embodies grief' and acts as a 'reminder' of the perils of travelling by sea already sits 110 metres beneath the surface of the ocean.
The Tongan government should swallow their pride and concentrate their efforts on marking the forthcoming anniversary of those in the Niua's that were killed by last year's tsunami.
Yours sincerely,
Tanya Edwards
Fasi
popua2000 [at] yahoo [dot] co [dot] nz