President of the National Authority for the Persons with Disabilities (ANPD) Mihaela Ungureanu believes that the Colectiv Memorial should be built at the site of the deadly fire, in a specially designed space, with specific activities, as not to forget what happened.
AGERPRES: How do you see the building of a Colectiv Memorial as a symbol against forgetting?
Mihaela Ungureanu: One of the ways to mark this event in the collective memory could be to adapt the place where the incident occurred and to find a purpose for the building that is linked with the tragedy.
AGERPRES: How do you imagine this Colectiv Memorial? Should it be built at the site of the tragedy or somewhere else?
Mihaela Ungureanu: Perhaps it is a good idea for it to be placed at the very site of the incident, which has in effect marked in a profound and irreversible way the collective memory. I imagine a place for which to find a destination and where events linked to that event can take place. It would be opportune to mark the location by setting up a special place, with specific activities that are linked with the incident, because this would give much more power to the message we must all receive and, eventually, of the teaching we must extract from this event. It is important that this doesn’t happen again and to set up a memorial at the site of the incident, as it happened in the US. A new tower was erected on the site of the two towers, so that the event was marked stronger in the collective memory.
AGERPRES: Given the situation of the space where the Colectiv Club was situated, who and to what extent should take care of designing and constructing a Colectiv Memorial, including finding necessary financing: the Romanian state or the non-governmental organisations?
Mihaela Ungureanu: I believe that first of all, the owner of the building should be identified, and, taking this aspect into account, a decision can be made and if the state can intervene, of course it could be supported by the activity of various NGOs that aconduct activities in the field of human rights.
AGERPRES: What motto do you believe should define this Memorial?
Mihaela Ungureanu: Protecting human rights and the guarantee that the state can offer one the security everyone needs.
AGERPRES: What do you believe should be the most important lesson remembered after visiting the Colectiv Memorial?
Mihaela Ungureanu: I would say it is the one connected to the fact that we should not approach anything in a superficial way and to take the path of responsibility, from the lowest level and to the highest one. More…