Notre Dame donations biggest ever for a disaster

LONDON — The devastating fire at the Notre Dame in Paris that has almost destroyed the 800 year old cathedral has attracted donations from all over the world and the total amount of money is expected to reach €1bn. This is more than any disaster in history which thousands and thousands of people have died in. The generosity of people, including many of the super rich of the world has raised the question whether it is appropriate to spend so much money on rebuilding a monument. Many architects weighed in saying it will cost billions to repair the Notre Dame and that perhaps it should not be restored as it was; that it should evolve. The timeline that President Emmanuel Macron set of five years for restoration is also said to be unrealistic and would probably take much longer. In Britain, several commentators were asking where the donations were when the Grenfell tower burnt down killing 233 people to which the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu who is originally from Uganda replied that he did not think you should either give money to restore the Notre Dame or save people, you could do both. The Notre Dame fire has also raised the question of how safe the historic buildings in Britain are. The Palace of Westminster that houses Parliament is said to be a serious fire hazard where fire safety teams constantly patrol the building that has caught fire 40 times just in the years between 2008 and 2012. Bloomberg’s Bob Moon was in Paris at the Notre Dame and he believes it will rise again. - Linda van Tilburg