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Haiti, without a palace too
Leticia Martínez
Hernández
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti. — They say that only majestic
place in the Haitian capital was its National
Palace. The building, enormous and blindingly white,
was yet another paradox in this country, immersed in
abject poverty, but able to show off a palace in the
style of the grand Petit Palais in Versailles.
 History
recounts that the National Palace took five years to
be built, but it took barely one minute for it to be
almost completely destroyed. The January 12
earthquake shook this Haitian national symbol
mercilessly. This reporter went to the site and
spoke with Fritz Longchamp, minister of the
presidency, who was working together with his team
in an improvised office in the shade of a tree.
Just
a few hours after the tragedy struck, when the
extent of the damage was not yet clear, everyone
thought that, given the quake had affected the
Palace so extensively, weaker buildings must have
fared far worse. When our reporting team was
visiting, even the helicopters flying overhead made
the devastated walls shake.
Longchamp explained that the building’s three
cupolas were destroyed; the left and center ones
collapsed inward and the one on the right fell
forward.
President René Préval’s office, the Council of
Ministers room, the First Lady’s office and the
meeting room were all buried when the roof
collapsed. The central pavilion of columns was
likewise demolished. During that collapse, at least
four people were killed in the Palace’s central
building, and another nine in the Presidential Guard
headquarters, now virtually in ruins.
Thirty percent of the palace was destroyed,
according to preliminary estimates. Longchamp said
the proposal is to repair instead of demolish,
because there are no structural problems.
“We
would like to rebuild the cupolas, but this time,
make them more earthquake-resistant.”
For
that purpose, Haitian experts from the National
Heritage Institute have been called upon to rebuild
the Palace, together with Japanese and U.S.
engineers and architects. They are currently
assessing its structures and the patrimonial values
that still remain among the debris.
The
minister of the presidency, still sorrowful over the
tragedy, emphasized that the Palace is very much a
part of Haiti’s national identity, like its flag and
shield.
Translated by Granma International
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