Bandung – West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil laid the first stone for the construction of the Plaza Soekarno Monument with representatives of Bung Karno’s family, Hasto Kristiyanto in the Saparua GOR area, Bandung City, Wednesday (28/6/2023).
The Plaza Soekarno monument will be the tallest statue in Indonesia, at 22.3 meters. The construction will run for 3-4 months. Governor Ridwan Kamil said that the construction of the Plaza Soekarno Monument was funded by the community.
This monument also comes from the aspirations of the community and a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) has been conducted with historians, Sundanese culturalists, sculpting artists, and national activists. “Alhamdulillah, today we start work on the Plaza Soekarno or Bung Karno Monument which came from the aspirations of the community so that the financing came from the community. The total cost is Rp15 billion from the mutual cooperation of the business community who love Bung Karno,” said Ridwan Kamil.
“Hopefully in three to four months it will be completed. Today it is represented by Mr. Hasto, maybe at the inauguration, the family will come directly, Mrs. Megawati can be pleased to attend,” he added.
The Saparua sports area was chosen because it is located in the archipelago. According to Kang Emil, Ridwan Kamil’s nickname, the Saparua area is surrounded by street names that represent islands in Indonesia. “Why is the place here (GOR Saparua area) because this is the Nusantara area of West Java. In this area it is surrounded by Kalimantan Street, Bali Street, Sumatra Street, Java Street, etc. and Merdeka Street so that the position is right,” said Kang Emil.
Then Kang Emil explained, in addition to the Soekarno Plaza Monument in the Saparua area, he had also built a Bung Karno Monument in Algeria. This is a form of his love for the Indonesian Proclamator. “If you ask Mr. Governor what kind of love for Bung Karno. Yes, this is my eleventh personal initiative (building a monument to Bung Karno) the furthest in Algeria,” he said.
“Including the Inggit Garnasih clinic which has been completed. Alhamdulillah, everything was completed in the 10 years we led Bandung and West Java,” added Kang Emil. Governor Ridwan Kamil hopes that the Plaza Soekarno Monument can stimulate young people in West Java to have the same dream as Bung Karno, who must also have a helping personality so that the dream of a Golden Indonesia in 2045 can be achieved.
“The main message is that the younger generation can respect the figure of Bung Karno, but also understand his messages to dream big and maintain mutual cooperation, maintain devotion, be sovereign in politics, independent in the economic field, and have a personality in culture so that towards 2045 we can become a great nation, a superpower in accordance with the extraordinary struggle of the founding fathers, especially Bung Karno,” said Kang Emil.
Meanwhile, Hasto Kristiyanto, who was present as a representative of Bung Karno’s family, said that the selection of the Plaza Soekarno Monument was very appropriate with Bung Karno’s philosophy. “So the Plaza Soekarno Monument was built in a very appropriate and cool place because this was Bung Karno’s dream. How Indonesia can be a breath of life for the world with natural resources that should be managed as well as possible for the progress of the nation,” said Hasto.
The Saparua area was chosen because of its strategic location in the center of Bandung. Therefore, Hasto considered that the place was very suitable because it was not far from Merdeka Building, which was a relic of Bung Karno’s history at the Asian-African Conference. “The place is very strategic, it is the center of Bandung, not far from the Asian-African Conference which is also a legacy of Bung Karno in the solidarity of Asian and African nations against colonialism and imperialism, which today we still feel its existence in different forms,” he explained.
Hasto assessed that the construction of the Plaza Soekarno Monument could encourage the younger generation to echo the spirit of Bung Karno’s struggle to liberate Indonesia. “The construction of the Plaza Soekarno Monument is expected to reignite the spirit of progress of the Indonesian nation to become a pioneer for other nations in the world, and from Bandung as a place of contemplation all of Bung Karno’s ideological thoughts can be reignited, especially for young people to build great Indonesian progress for Indonesia and the world,” concluded Hasto.
