Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 4 sepTember 2018
Recriminations fly after fire roars through Brazilian museum

By PETER PRENGAMAN because of the fire risk.
SARAH DiLORENZO On the massive site where
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — the museum sits, signs of
Smoke rose Monday from disrepair were evident: The
the burned-out hulk of Bra- fencing was dilapidated.
zil's National Museum, as Stonework was cracked,
recriminations flew over and lawns appeared un-
who was responsible for a tended.
huge fire that destroyed of "This fire is what Brazilian
at least part of Latin Amer- politicians are doing to
ica's largest collection of the people," said Rosana
historical artifacts and doc- Hollanda, a 35-year-old
uments. high school teacher, who
A few hundred protesters was crying Monday at the
who gathered outside the gates. "They're burning our
museum gates tried sev- history, and they're burning
eral times to push into the our dreams."
site, demanding to see the Roberto Leher, the rector
damage and calling on of the Federal University of
the government to rebuild. Rio de Janeiro, of which
Police held the crowd back the museum is a part, told
with pepper spray, tear gas reporters that the building
and batons. A National Museum worker organizes pieces rescued from the museum after an overnight fire in needed an upgrade to its
The museum's director said Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, Sept. 3, 2018. electrical and water sys-
a portion of the collection Associated Press tems and a new fire-pre-
was destroyed and that it vention plan.
was impossible to say yet told reporters at the scene. "The money spent on each slow start because the two "We all knew the building
how much. But the deputy He became emotional as one of those stadiums — a fire hydrants closest to the was in a vulnerable state,"
director suggested that the he described plans to sal- quarter of that would have museum did not work. In- he told reporters. Officials
damage could be cata- vage what was left of the been enough to make this stead, trucks had to gather had been working with
strophic, with most objects collection and rebuild. "We museum safe and resplen- water from a nearby lake. firefighters to reduce those
in the main building prob- have to act." dent," he told Brazilian TV. Kellner said there were fire risks, he added.
ably lost, except for some The museum has suffered He said the responsibility for extinguishers on the site, Asked by a reporter why
meteorites. underfunding for years that the museum's destruction but it was not clear if there such disasters don't hap-
The main building, which prevented renovations and lay squarely with federal were sprinklers, which are pen at cultural institutions in
was once the home of forced it to close exhibits. authorities. problematic for museums other countries, Kellner, the
the Brazilian royal family, The Folha de S. Paulo news- On Monday, President Mi- because water can dam- museum director, replied:
housed a collection of 20 paper reported in May, as chel Temer announced age objects. "Ask yourself that. That's a
million items that included the museum was preparing that private and public Employees had recently good question."
Egyptian and Greco-Ro- to celebrate its bicenten- banks, as well as mining gi- received training from fire- Latin America's largest
man relics and the old- nial, that its annual bud- ant Vale and state-run oil fighters in how to prevent nation has struggled to
est human skull found in get had fallen from around company Petrobras, have and respond to a blaze in emerge from its worst re-
the Western hemisphere, $130,000 in 2013 to around agreed to help rebuild the the building, Duarte said. cession in decades. The
known as Luzia. $84,000 last year. museum and reconstitute He lamented that no one state of Rio de Janeiro has
On Monday, the build- In a sign of how strapped its collections. French Presi- was on hand Sunday night been particularly hard hit
ing was still standing, but the museum was, when dent Emmanuel Macron to put that training into in recent years thanks to
much of it appeared to a termite infestation last offered in a tweet to send practice. a combination of falling
have been gutted. Civil year forced the closure of experts to help. "It was a constant worry," prices for oil, one of its ma-
defense authorities warned a room containing a 39- Fire department spokes- he said, adding that he jor revenue sources, mis-
that the structure was not foot (12-meter) dinosaur man Roberto Robadey would unplug everything management and massive
safe to enter because the skeleton, officials turned to said firefighters got off to a in his office before leaving corruption.q
roof and internal walls had crowdfunding to raise the
been compromised and money to reopen the room.
could collapse further. The institution had recently
It was not clear how the secured approval for a
fire began Sunday eve- planned renovation, in-
ning, when the museum cluding an upgrade of the
was closed. But the flames fire-prevention system, Kell-
quickly fueled criticism of ner said.
Brazil's dilapidated infra- "Look at the irony. The mon-
structure and budget defi- ey is now there, but we ran
cits as the nation prepares out of time," he said.
for national elections in Oc- Luiz Fernando Dias Duarte,
tober. the deputy director, noted
Several officials have said another irony: He said mu-
the building was known to seum officials were seeking
be in serious disrepair and renovation funds in 2013,
at significant risk of catch- at the same time that Bra-
ing fire. zil was spending millions to
"Just crying doesn't solve build stadiums for the World
anything," Alexander Kell- Cup, which it hosted the
ner, the museum's director, following year.