Friday, August 22, 2008

Dakar's 'African Renaissance' Monument Project Has Detractors

Dakar's 'African Renaissance' Monument Project Has Detractors

Radio Report

August 22, 2008

A colossal monument is planned for a hill overlooking the Atlantic in Dakar, capital of Africa's western-most nation, Senegal. The Senegalese president says the "Monument to the African Renaissance" is meant to symbolize the potential and growth of the continent. Detractors say it is a misuse of funds and a distraction from the everyday problems of the Senegalese people. For VOA, Brent Latham has more from Dakar.

A foreman yells instructions in Korean to a team of workers. A large open air kiln, reminiscent of the industrial age, spews thick black smoke into the sky.

The laborers pound steel and bronze on their anvils. These are North Koreans, and they are building a monument, something they have become accustomed to after years of paying tribute to Kim Jong-il, North Korea's long time communist ruler.

But this is not Pyongyang. It is Dakar, Senegal. On a large hill at the western-most tip of the continent, the North Koreans are helping to erect an African monument to rival others worldwide. With a height of more than 50 meters, the Monument to the African Renaissance, when completed, would be taller than the Statue of Liberty, if everything goes according to plan.

The monument, which will depict a man emerging from a volcano with his wife in one arm and child in the other, is an initiative of Senegal's octogenarian President Abdoulaye Wade. The project's principal architect is Pierre Goudiaby Atepa.

"This is an idea of President Wade. Way before he became president, he wrote a book on his vision of Africa, and in part of the book, he pictured an African giant coming out of a volcano with his wife and his child, and pointing out the way to development, which is the north, America," he said. "He wrote about it and when he became president. He called his architect, which is my good self, and told me, listen, I want to make a big monument that would symbolize the African Renaissance."

Major infrastructure projects like this tunnel have become common in Dakar
The ambitious job, which Atepa hopes will be completed by the end of next year, is another in a long line of large projects undertaken by Mr. Wade's government. On the agenda for the remaining four years of Mr. Wade's second term as president are a national theater projected to be the largest on the continent, advancing on plans for a new airport, and a huge Museum of African Culture.

The president's choices have brought criticism from political opposition and citizens alike, who say that Mr. Wade has focused on glossing over the country's poverty with construction projects that serve mostly the wealthy.

The monument distracts attention from the lack of jobs in Senegal, say two men standing by the side of the road, staring up at the rising monument on the hill above them.

They make their living washing cars in an empty lot below the monument's construction site. They say they are annoyed that the government spends money on monuments and building projects, while much of the population has little to eat, and faces a lack of employment and rising food prices.

Spokesmen for the presidency have repeatedly said the monument is being funded by private sources. The architect, Atepa, says he and the president are acutely aware of the criticism. Though his explanation indicates the funding is coming from the sale of government land, Atepa maintains that the government is not spending public funds on the monument.

"As far as the funding - it is not public money. We tried, because when you are in a government that does not have money sometimes you have to think of other ways of financing things than taking public money," he said. "The monument is in a site, and next to the site the government has decided that they will sell some government land, which is laying there for nothing, giving it to Senegal entrepreneurs, who will buy the land from the government. Instead of buying it for the regular government price, which is almost nothing, we put it at the commercial price, and they are giving the money to the government to build this, at commercial price. It is not costing anything to the government."

Atepa says he understands there is little public information within Senegal about the monument project. He says the government is anxious to avoid the criticism that comes with announcing big projects like this one and not following through. He says he prefers to complete the project first, and then publicize the results.

The architect says critics need to think more of the long term. He says the building of the monument does not represent a choice to ignore the problems of poverty, but rather to tackle those problems with a long term perspective in mind. Though the advantages of the monument may not be obvious in the short term, Atepa says, the Senegalese economy will eventually reap benefits from the monument and the building spree in general.

"I am an architect and I pressure the president to do things that will make Dakar, in Senegal, I do not want to say a showcase, but as you see everyone goes to Paris because of the Eiffel Tower," he said. "I want a lot of tourists to come to come to Senegal because we will have the monument of the African Renaissance, we are doing the national theatre, we will be doing the archives of Senegal, we are doing the African museum. We are doing all these things because in the year 2010 or 2015 we want people to come to Senegal, and this is what will make Senegal a rich country."

Mr. Wade has attempted to publicize the monument abroad, giving out pamphlets to international visitors to the president's office and on his trips outside Senegal. He has promised to have replicas of the monument built to be given to other African nations.

But inside Senegal, the construction on the hilltop remains a relative mystery. Visiting the project site requires the approval of the president himself, the architect's office says.

It will be difficult to avoid talk of the project much longer.

Above the lighthouse guarding the cape where Africa gives way to the ocean, the immense base of the statue is growing quickly. The first two stories are nearly complete. Plans show a winding staircase on the front of the monument, which visitors will be able to climb for a view of the Dakar peninsula and the ocean.

As for the North Koreans, Atepa says they are expert monument builders and bronze workers. The architect hopes some of that knowledge will be passed along to his Senegalese team.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The Democratic Primary

Having some time on my hands in Dakar, I have put some thought into the complexities of the Democratic primary and what it means for the US society as a whole, in terms of progression. There are so many implications, let me start with one.

The name calling and slandering of Barack Obama has been quite ridiculous, but I am also a bit disappointed in how Obama has reacted to some of it. For example, that Obama's middle name is Hussein, is a non-issue. So what? Also, what if Obama were Muslim? Would that make him less qualified to lead the United States? Obviously, it would make him unelectable, religion is a hurdle even tougher to overcome than race or gender, and the day the US elects an Islamic president is not shortly forthcoming. All that aside, Obama has missed the perfect opportunity to stand up for the change he stands behind. Why not ask outright, what is slanderous about being a Muslim? Why be afraid to be called Islamic, or to have a picture taken in traditional Somali dress? There is nothing wrong with either of these things, and those that say that there is are clearly bigots. The best defense to such "attacks" is to ignore them, discrediting those who would believe that either being Islamic or dressing like one is somehow undesirable or unacceptable. Obama has missed his chance to that, and thereby given validity to the racist attacks.

In general, the US would be better served by changing and integrating Islamic culture as it has with other cultures in the past than trying to separate and thereby discriminating against Muslims and all Islam.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Welcome to 2008...

From now on I plan to write my thoughts here, because I have failed in keeping a notebook that doesn't get waterlogged or lost, or kept, and so I have them all in place. We'll see what happens. If Enrique Dans can do it so can I.