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AP PHOTOS: Indonesia cleans national monument

By WTOP Staff

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s national monument is being cleaned for the first time in more than two decades.

The obelisk known as Monas is across from the presidential palace in downtown Jakarta. Construction of the 132-meter (433-foot) -tall monument began in 1961 under Indonesia’s founding president, Sukarno, and it was opened to the public in 1975.

Germany-based Kaercher company, which specializes in cleaning cultural monuments, is doing the work. It also did the monument’s last cleaning in 1992.

Fransisca Natalia, a senior manager of Kaercher, said more than 20 workers including three German experts are involved in the two-week cleaning process using high-pressure hot water.

Monas is an abbreviation of the monument’s Indonesian name, Monumen Nasional.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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