Coup memorial get spruced up ahead of 32nd anniversary

Construction workers were busy on Saturday sprucing up the 1990 attempted coup monument outside the Red House in preparation of he 32nd anniversary of what has been described as this country's darkest day.

The Speaker and Senate president are expected to lay wreaths at the monument on July 27 in honour of those who died when members of the Jamaat al Muslimeen stormed the Red House and held parliamentarians hostage in a bloody attempt to seize control under the National Alliance for Reconstruction administration on July 27, 1990.

On Wednesday, politicians will honour the 24 people who were killed between July 27 and August 1, 1990, as has been done on over the last 31 years.

The original Eternal Flame monument erected in 1991 on the eastern lawn was relocated to the northern side of the Red House in 2019, following the billion-dollar restoration of the Parliament. The marble monument bares the names of police officers and parliament staff killed during the 1990 attempted coup, the lyrics of the National Anthem, the Oath of Allegiance taken by Members of Parliament and the Affirmation of the People.

On Saturday, Anthony Rodriguez and two other workers were polishing the monument and repainting the faded names. They were hired by Parliament to spruce up the structure.

Some of the paint on the engraved names and words had faded owing to exposure to the sun and rain on the marble structure. Lights which illuminate the structure at night also needed to be changed.

Repairs began last Wednesday and will be completed in the coming days.