PARIS: French MPs were on Tuesday set to approve a law on the reconstruction of Notre-Dame, three months after flames ravaged the great Paris cathedral, but with the rebuilding process still mired in controversy.
President Emmanuel Macron has said the reconstruction should be completed within five years, a deadline some experts see as too ambitious. French luxury goods rivals, the billionaires Bernard Arnault and Francois-Henri Pinault, pledged 200 and 100 million euros apiece and they are likely to disburse the funds gradually to ensure they are spent well.
"We are not confusing speed with hurry," said the minister, adding that the cathedral was"not entirely saved" and that there was"still a risk" of collapse in some areas.The upper house Senate and lower chamber National Assembly failed to agree on a common text and the draft has now come back to the National Assembly - where Macron's party has a majority - in a slightly modified form.
The architectural form of the reconstruction is not directly addressed in the text although it was discussed in parliament, where some deputies expressed concern over Macron's interest in a"contemporary architectural gesture". Dozens of workers are at the site every day but they are focusing on securing the site and clearing debris rather than restoration.