Decrepit memorials a great shame!

Our lead front page report yesterday titled “Memorials left to decay” with its heart-wrenching photographic illustrations should be an eye-opener to a side of our national character we must be deeply ashamed of. The story encapsulated years of neglect that our icons of patriotism, emblems of historic turning points have been subjected to as though they are being de-memorialised, the exact opposite of  the purpose they were intended to serve.
This constitutes an appalling measure of disrespect to our history and an act of sacrilege committed on the inspiring memories of their sacrifices and noble deeds but for which we would have been so much the poorer.
We set up a memorial for a martyr with overflowing emotions and great fanfare and think that that is all we owe them. The inaugural enthusiasm will soon die down and the only time it would be revived, albeit in diminished forms, happens to be during annual observances of the days associated with them. On specific days these will be dusted for the rituals and then left totally uncared for the rest of the year, thus cumulatively turning them into wrecks.
All these are because of our pathological lack of maintenance culture helped by meagre or no allocation to look after memorial installations. Worse still, there appears to be no designated authority to maintain these against the vagaries of nature or onslaught of vandals.
It is high time we put some single authority in charge of these memorials, give it the funds required to maintain them and make them answerable to the ministry concerned.