Foreign tourist protests signatures on Fort Marlborough Wall

Antara News, Monday, January 11, 2010 19:21 WIB

Military Barrack - Marlborough Fort

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Bengkulu (ANTARA News) - A foreign tourist visiting Benkulu`s historical Marlborough Fort has protested the appearance of plaques on the fort`s front wall showing the signatures of Miss Universe 2007, Riyo Mori, and Bengkulu Governor Agusrin Maryono Najamudin.

The two signatures` inscription into the fort`s wall was reducing the fort`s historical value as their owners had nothing to do with the fort`s history, said British tourist Loreen Neville D when visiting the ancient building here on Monday.

"It would be different if , for instance, there was a plaque with the signature of Indonesia`s first president, Soekarno, because Soekarno was once imprisoned in the fort during the Dutch colonial era," she said.

Miss Mori and Governor Agusrin were irrelevant to the fort`s historical significance and their signatures had better be removed from the fort`s entrance, Neville said.

"I will send a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono about it, and ask the Bengkulu government to remove the non-historical signatures," she said.

As a British tourist, Neville said, she was very disappointed to see the inscriptions at the fort`s entrance because they lessened the fort`s historical value.

She said she had come to Bengkulu with her friends from Singapore with the specific purpose of visiting Fort Marlborough but was shocked and disappointed after seeing the plaques with Miss Universe`s and the governor`s signatures.

Meanwhile, the head of Bengkulu province`s culture and tourism office , Agus Stiyanto, expressed appreciation for Neville`s criticism because, he said, it showed a genuine concern about the fort`s existence and the need to preserve its originality.

The criticism and protest should actually have come from the Jambi provincial tourism office which was responsible for the maintenance of cultural objects in the southern parts of Sumatra, he said.

But now, a foreigner had made the remarks intended to maintain the cultural authenticity of a historical object in a southern part of Sumatra, he added.

"We hope that Ms Neville can bring more of her friends in Singapore on a regular basis to Bengkulu to witness objects dating back to the British presence in the region centuries ago," he said.

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