Her Worship the Mayor of Douglas, Councillor Sara Hackman JP, accompanied by the Mayoress, Councillor Carol Malarkey, attended the unveiling of a statue of a Laxey miner on Saturday May 23rd created by master stone carver Ongky Wijana in the village of Banjar Silakarang in Bali where he lives with his Manx-born wife Hannah and two children but had travelled to the Isle of Man to perform the unveiling ceremony.

The unveiling in Laxey’s Heritage Garden marked the culmination of the village’s regeneration scheme.

The sculpture is revealed by its creator, Ongky Wijana, extreme rightHer Worship was among guests who included His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor Mr Adam Wood, the President of Tynwald the Hon Clare Christian, Sir Lawrence and Lady New and Chief Minister Allan Bell MHK and who heard the chairman of the Laxey Regeneration Committee and Laxey and Lonan Heritage Trust director Steve Rodan SHK say the sculpture was ‘destined to become a landmark of truly iconic status’ and he paid tribute to its creator, saying Ongky Wijana possessed ‘a gift for craftsmanship in stone nothing short of genius.’

The sculpture was funded by Laxey resident and benefactor Phillis Tate who died in 2012 aged 97.