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Set-back for Nelson Mandela centre
The government has decided to abandon the cultural route in Port-Louis planned by the former government and to move the Nelson Mandela Cultural Centre back to its original location in La Tour-Koenig. Former prime minister, Paul Bérenger, had decided in 2001 that the centre would be located in the General Post Office Building in Port-Louis as part of “the route of remembrance.”
The route included the Aapravasi Ghat, the spot where indentured labourers had landed centuries ago, the African cultural centre and would have ended up at Place d’Armes with the busts and statues of some renowned Mauritians. The proximity with the harbour was meaningful as many slave descendants had been working there.
The Nelson Mandela Cultural Centre was inaugurated in 1986 in a small hall in Fon Sing Building. When former South African president, Nelson Mandela, visited Mauritius in 1998, he laid the foundation stone of the centre at La Tour Koenig. But in 2001, the government decided to move the centre to the GPO Building as part of the cultural route. Although the work estimated at Rs 30 million was expected to end in September 2005, it never in fact started.
The director of the Nelson Mandela Cultural Centre, Jean-Claude Augustave, has expressed his disappointment at the cabinet’s decision. He considers that the population should have had its say. It is true that the previous government’s decision to convert the post office building into the centre for African Culture was not welcomed by all. There is no unanimity on this issue… But this new decision is a definite setback for such a long-standing project.
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