During the public meeting addressing the future of the refinery, the Parliament unanimously approved a motion to conserve the history of Aruba’s oil refinery. With this move, Parliament emphasizes an important lesson from the past: to ensure that Lago does not suffer the same fate as the Arend refinery, better known as the Eagle Refinery.
In the past, Aruba hosted two large refineries that marked its economic development: Lago Oil & Transport Company and Arend Petroleum Maatschappij (Eagle). While Lago has remained engraved in the collective memory of the people, few remember Eagle. Due to a lack of structural conservation, a large part of its history has become almost invisible to new generations.
For this reason, Member of Parliament Xiomara Maduro took the initiative on behalf of the MEP Faction to present a motion to conserve the history of Aruba’s greatest economic pillar: the Lago refinery. The goal is to prevent it from disappearing from our national memory in the same way Eagle did.
Protection of Collective Memory The motion urges the Government not only to look at the economic or technical aspects of the refinery’s decommissioning but also at the cultural and historical dimensions. The motion suggests that the Government:
- Conserve the visible parts of the Lago refinery.
- Protect structures with patrimonial value.
- Create a museum, monument, or other permanent memorial.
- Integrate the history of the refinery into education and cultural tourism.
The message is clear: Aruba cannot continue to lose parts of its industrial history. Let the lack of conservation regarding Eagle serve as a warning and as the necessary impulse to preserve the heritage of the Lago refinery in a better way.
With this motion, the MEP Faction confirms its commitment to keeping the history of the refinery alive, so that the younger generation can understand Aruba’s origins and how the island developed.
