Is our national heritage in danger?

One of the oldest national heritages of the city of Port Louis, the former Police Station of Trou-Fanfaron, caught fire on Monday. Since the police station has moved to a new compound in 2015, the century old historical building was left abandoned. What is the fate of our heritage buildings which have great historical value? Should abandoned relics of the past make way for new construction?

Classified since 1951 as National Heritage site, the former Trou-Fanfaron police station was engulfed by flames earlier this week. Formally a military post, the stone and wood building was constructed between 1767 and 1769 by African and Malagasy slaves and Indian skilled contractual workers under the French colonial administration.

The building was constructed at this strategic position in Port Louis and served in the 1800s as garrison of French troops. Following the British conquest of the island, the building was used by British military officers as military post. Between 1940 and 1945, the Trou-Fanfaron military post housed one of the sections of the Colony of Mauritius War Office. It is in 1950 that the building was converted into the Trou-Fanfaron Police Station.  Over half a century later, it was decreed as National Heritage. However the building was abandoned since the police station moved out in 2015.

Like other national heritage buildings, this one too was forgotten and no maintenance was done until the fire broke out. Following his visit to the site, the Minister of Arts and Culture Pradeep Roopun declared that the site will not be destroyed but restored. He says lack of finance means many of our national heritage sites are left unmaintained. Should these building be brought down to see the construction of new ones? Thierry Le Breton and Jocelyn Chan Low debate.

Thierry Le Breton : “Government does not understand heritage economy”

Thierry Le Breton, Co-President of SOS Patrimoine en Péril, says that our national heritiage is in great danger. “The first reason is that the National Heritage Fund, which is the institution responsible for the protection of national heritage sites, is not functioning properly anymore. There is no Director and no Chairman, and the Board has not met since last December while they are supposed to meet every month. Therefore, no decision can be taken by the NHF and obviously the Government is using this as an opportunity to take the worst decisions in relation to our national heritage. In its last budget, they allowed themselves extended powers to decide upon the demolition of national heritage whenever they think that the restoration may be too expensive, while they do acknowledge in parallel that they don’t have any competencies about heritage assessments and surveys. And this is the second reason why the national heritage is at stake. The third reason is that it appears obviously now that the government doesn’t have any understanding about heritage economy and all the economic wealth and development brought by heritage. They still consider it as a cost and they do not know how to build up profitable rehabilitation projects around national heritage. And because they don’t have this competency, they think that everybody else don’t have this competency either, which is wrong,” he explains.

Thierry Le Breton says that heritage buildings need to be kept. “There are many other places for those new buildings without requiring the demolition of historic heritage. First of all, because they are more beautiful and romantic than all the other unaesthetic concrete jungles that are being developed! Secondly, because they are part of the landscape that characterizes our country, which makes it unique and makes us feel at home here and not in Hong Kong or New York. Finally, because it is our inheritance, this is what allows us to say who we are. The young people of this country want to find their roots in Mauritius. Therefore the historical heritage is gaining more and more importance for them.”

“We must have an architect for national heritage, like in any country that really cares for its national heritage. The role of such an architect is to ensure the assessment and stewardship of national heritage for the account of the Republic. To the contrary of what most of people think, money is not the main problem when it comes to heritage preservation – pertaining that you know how to proceed. It’s rather greed that is the biggest threat that encourages heritage demolition.”

Thierry Le Breton shares that he had the opportunity to discuss with Christina Moore who is the art director for the movie Serenity that was shot in Mauritius. “She is also the art director of the series Game of Thrones. She has received numerous awards for her work on the series, whose sets are in different countries of the world, in Croatia, Spain and Morocco. She told me that due to Game of Thrones worldwide success, tourism in these countries had increased significantly as tourists wanted to visit the scenery of the series. Now for the movie Serenity, she chose Mauritius for the same reason, only because of the old and historic buildings that are unique in the world, while she could have the beaches many places elsewhere. To her, that was the best atmosphere she could find and she definitely fell in love with the Mauritian architecture that is once again, unique in the world. Now, Mauritians should start understanding that for once!”

Jocelyn Chan Low : “Restoration is very costly”

Associate Professor and historian, Jocelyn Chan Low explains that heritage preservation, rehabilitation and restoration are very costly. “It entails historical and structural studies that can be time consuming as well as recourse to expertise that is simply not available locally at times. In the end, finance is the key to success. Some NGOs and private individuals have been successful, such as the Friends of the Environment and the Martello Tower. The private sector is doing very well in some cases. For example, just look at Eureka House or ‘Le Domaine des Aubineaux’ at Forest Side. The key is management and use. Do you know that the Cape Town archives is housed in an old prison building? This is how you can save your national heritage, by making the building functional!”

Jocelyn Chan Low sincerely believes that the authorities are simply not doing enough when it comes to heritage conservation and maintenance. For example old cemeteries are being vandalised with impunity. And besides, in the budget a provision has been included that Cabinet can de-list any site without going through the necessary procedures,” says Jocelyn Chan Low.

“Besides, he adds, “the National Heritage lacks resources. You know, in 1996 there was the ‘Assises des arts et de la Culture’ and I was the rapporteur for the ‘committee on heritage.’ Joseph Tsang Man kin was minister of arts and culture and he clearly understood that there was the need for a paradigm shift as to heritage management in this country. New institutions were set and new laws enacted. For example the National Heritage Trust which has the power to declare buildings, artifacts even a tree protected national heritage. And it was a trust at the time, a para-statal and not a government body for it was supposed to work in close collaboration with the private sector and NGOs. For the protection of national heritage is a costly business where you need to create a synergy among all stake holders.”