WILLEMSTAD - The Cinelandia building in Punda can be demolished immediately because of an risk of collapse.
“The summons to Fernando da Costa Gomez and his company nv Handelsmaatschappij C.M.O.G. to demolish the building within a month, is based on the Building and Housing Ordinance and not the Monuments Ordinance,” according to legal adviser to the Minister of Traffic, Transport and Spatial Planning (VVRP), Artoir Herrera.
“If there is an acute risk of collapse in a building, you must summon the owner and act immediately. Then there is no need to go through a lengthy process of applying for a demolition permit and advice,” says Herrera. He indicates that the discussion around Cinelandia has been going on for decades, but that there is now real danger.
"And if something happens, the government is held accountable," he explains, referring to a past incident in which a section of a wall came down on a person during carnival.