Nitjela up in flames. Photo: Chewy Lin Photo & Film / Chewy Lin
Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine says Cabinet has endorsed a plan to fast-track building a new parliament complex.
The Marshall Islands parliament building, Nitijela, burnt down around midnight on Monday, with the full impact not expected to be known for several days.
Heine said the construction of the new parliament will begin before the end of this year.
The build will take priority over the construction of a new capital facility, which was soon to start.
Marshall Islands parliament before it went up in flames. Photo: Caleb Fotheringham
On Tuesday, RNZ Pacific correspondent in Majuro said that the parliament chamber and offices, the library and all archives had been destroyed by the fire.
Giff Johnson said that the fire started late overnight and nobody was harmed.
He pointed out that the Marshall Islands did not have much capacity in firefighting and fire inspection processes, making it difficult to determine the cause of the fire.
A Marshall Islands government spokesperson told the ABC said there were early signs the fire originated from a container trailer adjacent to the building.
"At the time of this report, responders are actively preventing further damage on the capitol grounds," the spokesperson said in a written statement to the ABC.
Marshall Islands police and firefighters try to contain the fire. Photo: Chewy Lin Photo & Film / Chewy Lin
