Arientha Primanita

The Obama statue will be relocated from Menteng Park to the US president's former elementary school. (JG Photo/ Afriadi Hikmal)

'Little Obama' Jakarta Statue To Be Moved Next Week: Spokesman

A statue of US President Barack Obama as a child, which currently stands in Jakarta’s city-owned Taman Menteng, will be moved next week, an Indonesian official said on Friday.

Jakarta city spokesman Cucu Ahmad Kurnia said that Central Jakarta Mayor Sylviana Murni and members of Alumni of SDN Besuki Menteng, Obama’s former elementary school, had met and discussed the relocation.

“They have discussed the relocation this week and planned to move the statue next week,” he said.

Previously, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo had said he supported the public’s demands to move the statue from Taman Menteng. He said it will be relocated before Obama visits Jakarta in March.

The Facebook group “Turunkan Patung Barack Obama di Taman Menteng” (“Take Down the Barack Obama Statue in Menteng Park”), which currently has 56,541 members, filed legal action against the city administration on January 22 after they received no response to their request for a formal hearing with the governor and the city council over the issue.