Construction of the Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) cultural park, an ambitious multi-billion rupia project centered around a giant statue of the mythical Garuda bird in southern Bali, has halted due to budget constraints.
The project will need at least Rp 750 billion (US$80 million) in additional funds to be completed, the park's initiator says.
For years, construction has been hindered by a range of problems, from a chronic lack of funds to internal disputes among the park's managing executives.
"Almost 20 years ago we kicked off this project without any estimation a lengthy economic crisis would hit the country. At that time we only thought the crisis would last two to three years. No one thought it would be a protracted crisis like this," Nyoman Nuarta said in a press conference this week.
Nuarta is an acclaimed Bali-born sculptor and the mastermind behind the park and the monument within. Despite strong opposition from Balinese right-wing activists and intellectuals, who assailed the park as another money-wasting mega project, the project initially won support from high ranking government officials, including then minister of tourism Joop Ave and then minister of energy I.B. Sudjana.
"We estimate we will need Rp 750 billion (US$80.6 million) more to finish the project," Nuarta said, adding that the government had only offered moral, rather than financial support.
Set to become a landmark for Indonesia's tourism industry, the park, located in Jimbaran, 30 kilometers west of Denpasar, is designed to be spacious and to combine cultural presentation, state-of-the-art technology and business facilities.
The park's main attraction will be the 150-meter-tall Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue, designed and sculpted by Nuarta in his studio in Bandung, West Java. The statue will be surrounded by a lotus pond, with an amphitheater and shopping arcades nearby.
"So far we have managed to construct only 15 percent of the park and 28 percent of the statue," Nuarta conceded.
The construction committee has only managed to acquire 100 hectares out of the 250 hectares of land required for the park.
Nuarta said they had not set a target for the completion of the park.
"We will construct it according to our financial and physical capabilities because we do not receive financial help from the government," said the artist, also a member of the advisory board of the GWK Foundation.
"We are ready to request loans from commercial banks so that we can gradually finish the project," he said.
Nuarta also said the construction committee and foundation would welcome investors interested in taking part in the project as long as they didn't alter its design.
"We are now in the process of negotiating with several Malaysian and Indonesian investors," he said.
During the press conference, the GWK Foundation and PT. Garuda Adimatra Indonesia, the park's developers, said they would re-commence construction work on May 20.
"We have picked that day to honor National Awakening Day," head of the event organizing committee IB Gde Budi Hartawan said.
The event would stage a cultural performance involving hundreds of children from across the island.
"We expect around 4,000 people will attend the event," he said.
The GWK Foundation's advisory board chairman H Joop Ave said he expected the park to be one of the island's biggest tourism attractions.
"We hope this park will not only become a place for cultural and arts performances but also a birth place for Bali's cultural renaissance," he said.
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