Palu Blanku
The name Palu Blanku does not appear on the very accurate Werbata map of 1911. That is an indication that the name is fairly recent. It seems plausible that the name "Palu Blanku" arose somewhere between 1960 and 1968 as an oral designation. Opposite the present filling station — which was then still called pòmp di Gasparito — stood an imposing Palu di sia blanku (white saddle tree), next to a small dilapidated house.
The Palu di sia blanku, a.k.a. Bursera karsteniana, has a striking silver-coloured bark and — like the Palu di sia kòrá — occurs exclusively on Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. It sheds all its leaves during dry periods and keeps producing its own nourishment through the chlorophyll in the trunk (carbon-dioxide assimilation). It was formerly planted as a fence, and because it is a soft, flexible type of wood, donkey saddles (= sia) were made from it.
In both the white and the red Palu di sia the thick branches twist in all sorts of bends to catch sunlight, and thereby form veritable natural works of art in the landscape.
Filling station
The first publication about Palu Blanku is a newspaper report in the Amigoe in 1960 mentioning the opening of the filling station. It speaks of "the filling station at the roundabout on the corner of the Nijlweg".
In the Amigoe of 22 November 1968 is the route description of a circular drive in which the roundabout of Palu Blanku is named as such.
Thorenquest
Palu Blanku lies at a location where 3 former plantaadjes meet, namely Gasparito, Thorenquest and Rozendaal. Gasparito was the "nòmber di kariño" — pet name — for Gaspar Anthony de Quirigazu, once owner of the plantation, the greater part of which now lies on the refinery terrain. Both Thorenquest and Rozendaal are family names.
The northern boundary of Palu Blanku lies just within Rozendaal, the greater part lies on Thorenquest, and the southern part of Palu Blanku lies on Gasparitu. That is where there is now a concentration of various small shops and snack bars, on the left just before you drive into Marchena from the Palu Blanku roundabout. One of the commercial buildings here has as its address: Gasparitu, Palu Blanku no. 1.
The present roundabout of Palu Blanku lies just a little above the old crossing that can be seen on Werbata.
Because the roundabout had no official name, it was named, in the time of the Schotte cabinet, after the Lebanese leader Rafic Hariri, but in popular speech it has remained the rotònde di Palu Blanku.
Sources
- Amigoe, 22 November 1968
- De Freitas, J.: Inheemse bomen van de Benedenwindse eilanden, Stichting Carmabi
With thanks to: André Rancuret, François van der Hoeven, Christel Monsanto and Jeroen Heuvel.
