The Council said that the location of Parliament there “would contribute to the death rather than the revival of the image and life of Valletta as a capital city”.

The statement urged government to respect the “natural vocation” of the site by providing for its development as an adequate centre for the performing arts.

Chairman, Prof. Joe Friggieri, and the Council’s CEO, Dr Paul V. Mifsud said: “The best use of the site of the formal Royal Opera House has again become the object of public discussion.

The Malta Council for Culture and the Arts has the duty to express its views about the subject.”

They said the Council agreed with public opinion that the site was not suitable for Parliament.

“The site has a natural vocation to become a hive of cultural activity involving crowds.

Parliament, on the other hand, calls for systems of security which would render undesirable the flourishing of such activities,” they said.

The Council said the location of Parliament at the site would contribute to the death rather than the revival of the image and life of Valletta as a capital city.

Moreover, there are other areas, for instance in the neighbourhood of St Elmo, admirably suited for the purposes of Parliament.

It is also a known fact that Malta still lacks a centre of the dimensions of the site occupied by the former Opera House both for the self-expression of our cultural identity as well as for the serious development of cultural tourism, said the council.

The Council also claims that it is generally known that the Manoel Theatre – a gem of baroque architecture – is too small to house large-scale productions which would be economically viable. The Mediterranean Conference Centre Hall – roofed-over courtyard – was never designed and cannot ever be well-adapted for the purpose, said the Council

It is inconceivable today that a town can function as an attraction for cultural tourism without an adequate centre for the performing arts, said the Council. Plans on which a great deal of work has already been carried out by the competent ministries envisaged a kind of commercial development related to artistic and cultural activity that would not threaten but rather reinforce existing business in Valletta.

“Such provision would ensure that the country would not be overburdened with costs due to the Cultural Centre.

Rather, the centre would be capable of becoming, through direct and indirect returns, a profitable investment in the global economic context,” concluded the Council’s statement.