Reconstruction
Shortly after the fire, the government of Madagascar established the Direction nationale des opérations Rova (DNOR, or National Office of Rova Operations), a body directed by four national experts within Madagascar's Ministry of Culture who were tasked with developing and overseeing plans for the reconstruction of the Rova. Two years after the fire, several key milestones in the process had been achieved, with objects recovered from the fire inventoried, site excavations completed, preliminary restoration plans for Manjakamiadana developed, and work on the royal chapel initiated. A ramp was also built to enable site access for the necessary heavy construction vehicles. Prior to work commencing, a traditional ceremony was performed to restore the sanctity of the site, which had served a dual role as both a physical tomb and spiritual link to venerated ancestors.
Estimated initial reconstruction costs were put at 20 million U.S. dollars by experts from UNESCO, which was the principal contributor of funds as well as expertise due to the Rova's then status as a soon-to-be officially recognised World Heritage Site. The French Development Agency also pledged tens of thousands of dollars to the project while additional monies in the form of private donations from residents of Antananarivo helped to fund the reconstruction of the tombs on the complex. However, according to a UNESCO report released in June 2000, the majority of funds raised by UNESCO between 1997 and 2000 for the Ratsiraka administration's Rova reconstruction initiative—an estimated 700 billion Malagasy Francs—were allegedly embezzled by the DNOR Administrator, stalling reconstruction at the end of the planning stage.
Significant progress toward reconstruction was seen under the administration of President Marc Ravalomanana (2001–2009) who created the Comité national du patrimoine (CMP, or National Heritage Committee) responsible for overseeing the effort. The less time-intensive restoration projects were the first to be undertaken and completed. Efforts to restore the chapel, the monument least affected by the fire due to its stone structure, focused particularly on restoring its roof, steeple and wooden pews along with altar panels that had burned in the fire. Work on the chapel was completed in 2003. Reconstruction work on Mahitsy began in 2001 and was completed in January 2003, while Besakana was rebuilt beginning in December 2003. The restoration of the nine royal tombs in the Rova complex was completed in October 2003. In early January 2006, Phase 1 of the Manjakamiadana reconstruction commenced. This phase was scheduled for completion in May 2008. The reconstruction of the larger wooden palaces, such as Tranovola and Manampisoa, has not been planned.
The original exterior of Manjakamiadana comprised over 70,000 granite stones, of which approximately 20,000 had become cracked during the fire and needed replacement. The western wall of the palace partially collapsed in January 2004 and required complete rebuilding. Every stone was removed and numbered to facilitate the reinsertion of each one in its original place with two French stone-masonry companies engaged to supervise the work. The foundation was modernised, first using laser technology to assess the topography of the site, then by driving 22 cement piles into the ground beneath the foundation base to a depth of 23 metres (75 ft). Phase 2 consisted of replacing each of the numbered exterior wall stones in its original place, bolstered where needed by new stones to replace those damaged in the fire. Although the palace interior was originally made of wood, the reconstructed building was designed using reinforced concrete interior supporting beams for the walls, ceiling and roof due to concerns over the availability and durability of hardwood. Finally, the roof was re-tiled in blue-gray slate imported from quarries near the French city of Angers.
Phases 1 and 2 of the reconstruction process were declared complete in December 2009 at a total cost of 6.5 million euros. The work employed 230 people at three sites: a granite quarry on National Route 1 (RN1), a separate site where the stones were chiselled into shape, and the site of the Rova itself. Phase 3 will consist of the design and rebuilding of the interior of the palace, while Phase 4 will involve planning and subsequent development of the display and management of the museum collection to be housed on the ground floor. Work on these final two phases of reconstruction was scheduled to begin in 2011 with completion expected within 24 months at a cost of approximately 3,765,000 euros. Between the completion of the first two phases and the beginning of work on the second two phases, the Minister of Culture and Heritage fast-tracked the enclosure of windows and doors to protect the building's interior and began establishing a new inventory of historic objects saved from the fire. These artefacts are currently housed in the Andafiavaratra Palace, former home of late 19th-century Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony, and will be transferred to a museum within Manjakamiadana upon its completion.
In March 2009 the Ravalomanana administration was ousted following several months of opposition protests led by then-mayor of Antananarivo, Andry Rajoelina. The transfer of power to Rajoelina, who adopted the title of President of the High Transitional Authority (HAT), was widely viewed as a coup d'état by members of the international community, leading many bilateral and intergovernmental donors to suspend non-humanitarian support to the regime. The HAT has declared its intention to continue the Manjakamiadana reconstruction project using a combination of state funds and donations from private Malagasy citizens. Six banking agencies in Madagascar have been selected to serve as collection points for private donations. On 7 March 2011 the HAT relieved the original members of the National Heritage Committee of their posts and mandated the appointment of new members selected from among the current regime's ministerial staff. Despite the introduction of these diverse strategies, the HAT has struggled to obtain adequate funds to continue the pace of Rova reconstruction seen in the latter half of the Ravalomanana presidency, and progress toward completion has advanced sporadically at a gradual rate since autumn 2009.
Read more about this topic: Rova Of Antananarivo