2023-09-23 08:01:33
With another look, his space is given to engineer Carlos Polo Cossich, a comrade in the battle for the conservation of Antigua Guatemala.
I must point out the abysmal difference in quality between the work then and what is done now.
José María Magaña
Between 1978-90, due to the damage caused by the 1976 earthquakes, professionals such as José María Magaña, Rodolfo Asturias, Julio Armas, Wellington García, Elizabeth Bell and others, together with the undersigned, worked for the National Council for the Protection of Antigua Guatemala (Cnpag). Due to the emergency and the structural instability of some elements, on the fly, we had to take action to prevent further deterioration. Based on photographs and old records, we managed to stabilize the structures with structural reinforcement.
Those consolidated monuments are those that locals and foreigners see today in the city, either as functioning buildings or as vestiges of its past greatness. It is difficult for the observer to recognize and even less know the work to which these structures were subjected in order to appreciate them as they are; example of conservation and restructuring.
During that period we dedicated ourselves to saving, protecting and maintaining the intervened works: City Hall Palace, Cathedral and Parish House; the temples La Merced, Capuchinas, Santa Clara, San Pedro Apóstol, San Lázaro, San Pedro Las Huertas, San Cristóbal El Bajo, San Sebastián and Compañía de Jesús. The Lazaretto, La Unión tank and sculpture of Santo Hermano Pedro.
I must point out the abysmal difference in quality between the work then and what is done now. During the period 2020-23, the municipal authorities had the opportunity to take the urgent and necessary measures to protect the city as it deserves, which they did not do, despite the fact that in 1979 it was declared a cultural heritage of humanity and being the charter presentation of Guatemala to the world.
The municipality, without having approved the Territorial Planning Plan (2019) prepared by a foreign company, in accordance with the category of the city, authorized projects inside and outside the urban area, ignoring the importance of its conservation, focusing its interest only on the change of land use. These projects, mostly shopping centers, condominiums, subdivisions and others, are generating mobility problems, since they did not consider expanding streets or new communication routes; basic services such as drainage and water supply. Problems that will irresponsibly be inherited so that, according to the popular saying, he who comes behind, herds.
The complications and unforeseen effects of these projects on vehicular traffic and the use of natural resources are enormous. The green belt has been indiscriminately deforested, putting water sources at serious risk to depths similar to what is found today in Guatemala City. The destruction of plantations in flat and mountainous areas to the east, southeast and southwest of the city is visible: an excessive conversion of land use.
Antigua Guatemala is unique. We appreciate it, but others, with economic interests in it, do not, and the worst thing is that they do not care, because they only see it as a preserved asset to be exploited.
That is why I call on the elected authorities for the Council – period 2024-27 – to approach the municipality of La Antigua Guatemala and the Cnpag (both institutions chaired by the mayor) and ask, stimulate or force, with the support of the population, that in the remaining months of this period no new projects are approved. It is the least that can be demanded of the outgoing authorities to avoid more damage than they have already approved.
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