Funding cuts blamed behind Brazil National Museum fire
Rio De Janeiro, Sept 4 (IBNS): Brazilian officials have blamed lack of funding as the cause behind the major fire which damaged National Museum on Sunday.
A fire broke out at the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro which left the 200-year-old structure destroyed, media reports said on Monday.
The National Museum is one of the largest natural history and anthropological museums in the country.
There have been complaints about the dilapidated state of the museum in recent times.
"We never had adequate support," its deputy director was quoted as saying by BBC.
Presidential candidate Marina Silva criticised the issue of lack of investments and tweeted: "Unfortunately, given the financial shortage of UFRJ and the other public universities in the last three years, this was an announced tragedy."
Infelizmente, dado o estado de penúria financeira da UFRJ e das demais universidades públicas nos últimos três anos, esta era uma tragédia anunciada.
— Marina Silva 18 (@MarinaSilva) September 3, 2018
Brazil's President Michel Temer has expressed his sadness over the damaged caused to the building due to the fire.
"Incalculable to Brazil the loss of the collection of the National Museum. 200 years of work, research and knowledge have been lost. The value of our history cannot be measured by the damage to the building that housed the royal family during the empire. It's a sad day for all Brazilians," he tweeted.
Incalculável para o Brasil a perda do acervo do Museu Nacional. Foram perdidos 200 anos de trabalho, pesquisa e conhecimento. O valor p/ nossa história não se pode mensurar, pelos danos ao prédio que abrigou a família real durante o Império. É um dia triste para todos brasileiros
— Michel Temer (@MichelTemer) September 3, 2018
Brazil's Culture Minister Sergio Sa Leitao was quoted as saying by BBC that it was a "tragedy that could have been avoided" but a reconstruction effort would begin.
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