‘Gift’ to Sea Roils Waters

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands —  Environmentalists say it’s irresponsible, Christians are calling it sacrilegious and the government has gone to court to ban it.

But if all goes according to plan, one day next month a 100-foot steel-framed figure of a man, stuffed with 20,000 loaves of bread, will be towed out into the North Sea and sunk.

The “National Gift to the Sea” has caused a furor in this seafaring nation that prides itself on its thrift and environmental conscience.

“They’ve just misunderstood the whole idea,” said Kees Bakker, one of the project’s organizers, of the 33,500 people who have so far signed protest letters to the waterways ministry.

“This is an offering to the sea, in return for all we’ve taken from it over the years. It’s a positive act, not a piece of senseless vandalism.”

Greenpeace, the Netherlands’ most influential environmental voice, doesn’t see it that way.

“It’s just the most mindless, primitive act imaginable,” said spokeswoman Francoise Verdeuzeldonk. “It’s pure pollution.”

The welded steel superstructure, in the form of a figure with arms raised, is currently being packed with bread by several hundred volunteers.

The loaves were baked by a dozen local bakers using flour from grain grown on reclaimed land, with water drained from the IJsselmeer, a man-made inland sea.

The $545,000 cost of the project is being raised by public donation.

The Gift was conceived two years ago by the Cargo Foundation, a group of 10 publicity-shy Dutchmen, who see it as a “sacrificial statue and an important expression of Holland’s cultural identity,” Bakker said, refusing to disclose their names.

“Holland has grown rich from the sea and a third of the land has been reclaimed from the sea,” he told The Associated Press. “This is a grand gesture and a wonderful symbol.”