{"id":54432,"date":"2012-02-02T11:41:35","date_gmt":"2012-02-02T15:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/?p=54432"},"modified":"2012-02-02T22:20:56","modified_gmt":"2012-02-03T02:20:56","slug":"lions-on-new-bridge-causes-controversy-participate-in-dno-poll-on-this-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/news\/general\/lions-on-new-bridge-causes-controversy-participate-in-dno-poll-on-this-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"“Lions” on new bridge cause controversy; participate in DNO poll on this matter"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
One of the "lions" on the bridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The four \u201clions\u201d gracing the newly opened Dominica\/China Friendship Bridge have stirred up a slight bit of controversy.<\/p>\n

Opponents of the government and some ordinary citizens have questioned why these \u201cChinese statues\u201d have been placed on a Dominican bridge.<\/p>\n

Some have suggested that it is China\u2019s way of trying to stamp its mark on a Dominica it is assisting financially in a number of areas.<\/p>\n

The 70 metre bridge was constructed over a 17 month period to the tune of EC$8 million provided by mainland China.<\/p>\n

Among those criticizing the \u201clions\u201d placed at both entrances to the new bridge are DNO bloggers \u2013 they have had mixed reaction to these Chinese \u201csymbols\u201d.<\/p>\n

Public Works Minister Rayburn Blackmoore took up the issue at Wednesday\u2019s official opening of the bridge.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of persons have asked me, Mr Blackmoore, what are those dragons doing there,\u201d the minister said, admitting that it had evoked some level of curiosity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said to them, those are not dragons, they are lions, and lions are a universal expression of strength and courage and that is why we must say thank you very much to the Peoples Republic of China for the support and their help thus far,\u201d Minister Blackmoore said.<\/p>\n

However research indicates that the statues are ‘foo dogs.’\u00a0 Foo Dogs are the ancient sacred dogs of Asia who guard Buddhist temples.\u00a0 The association between these dogs and Buddha is one of great significance.\u00a0 Foo Dogs have the appearance of a lion.\u00a0 The lion in Buddhist religion is seen as sacred, and has sometimes been offered to Buddha as a sacrifice.<\/p>\n

While the four controversial fixtures might be quickly forgotten as more important matters take centre stage in the near future, for the moment they remain a talking point for some, especially those who would have preferred that they had not been made part of the China-funded bridge.<\/p>\n

Dominica News Online wants readers’ opinion on this matter. On the bottom right hand side of the home page a poll is located asking the question “Should the Dominican authorities have place the “Chinese lions” on the new bridge?”<\/p>\n

Choose either “yes” or “no” and give us an idea of the consensus on this matter.<\/p>\n

The poll is between DNO’s Facebook plug in and the LIME ad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The four \u201clions\u201d gracing the newly opened Dominica\/China Friendship Bridge have stirred up a slight bit of controversy. Opponents of the government and some ordinary citizens have questioned why these \u201cChinese statues\u201d have been placed on a Dominican bridge. Some…","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":54433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n"Lions" on new bridge cause controversy; participate in DNO poll on this matter - Dominica News Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/news\/general\/lions-on-new-bridge-causes-controversy-participate-in-dno-poll-on-this-matter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Lions" on new bridge cause controversy; participate in DNO poll on this matter - Dominica News Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The four \u201clions\u201d gracing the newly opened Dominica\/China Friendship Bridge have stirred up a slight bit of controversy. 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