Education minister Louis Galea was speaking during question time yesterday. Later on Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi once again considered what needs to be done with the derelict site.

It all began in a rather rumbustious way.

Evarist Bartolo had submitted a written question to the prime minister asking what contracts Prof. England has obtained from the government and what he hasbeen paid from 1992 until today.

Environment Minister George Pullicino, deputising for the prime minister, read out Dr Gonzi’s reply in which he referred to another parliamentary question and its answer.

Joe Mizzi wanted to know what the answer was.

What followed was ludicrous. Mr Pullicino rustled his papers and hemmed and hawed, but could not find the parliamentary reply which was given in Monday’s sitting. A small group of ushers started looking for it here, there and everywhere, until Mr Mizzi became quite exasperated and called for a quorum check.

By the time the customary five minutes had run out, the reply had been found and Mr Mizzi did not insist on his quorum check. Prof. England had received the princely sum of Lm4,840.

Minister Louis Galea then took over, thus giving a long and exhaustive explanation.

It is not fair, he said, that a person who did what a citizen should do – that is, compete in a government offer – is transformed into a political football, especially such a man as Prof. England.

Prof. England has been chosen three times, not just once, to head the team which will design the Opera House and City Gate.

The first time he was chosen was post 1987 when he competed, along with 13 other architects in an international competition.

He then was chosen in a second call for expressions of interest under another PN administration for the restoration of St James Cavalier as part of a holistic approach to the upgrading of City Gate .

Only a small amount of work had been done on St James Cavalier when Dr Sant became prime minister, but Dr Sant allowed the work to continue.

Dr Sant’s administration then held a third public competition and Prof. England won this as well.

Dr Galea said he is informed that Dr Sant has said that once Prof. England won this competition, he should be allowed to continue with his work. Dr Sant also stated he intended to rebuild the Opera House.

Time however ran out for him and the next PN administration went full-swing for the restoration of St James Cavalier which it concluded in time for the Millennium.

The restoration of St James Cavalier was only part of a bigger project.

At that time, Dr Galea continued, it was estimated that the final cost would be some Lm40 million, but one knows only too well how these costs escalate.

This government, as the preceding MLP one, tried to get the private sector interested in the idea. Although there was some interest shown by the private sector, the feasibility studies which were commissioned were not positive. The private sector was not ready to risk millions.

The government, on the other hand, had a huge recurrent expenditure problem, so the project was shelved.

Now however, the government is studying a possible alternative: it is considering whether to change the Opera House building into a Parliament and thus altering the finances for the project.

Prof. England was chosen in a very open manner: one does not even chose a judge in that way, Dr Galea said. He is paid according to the architects’ standard payment, Dr Galea continued.

Mr Mizzi wanted to know if Prof. England has been paid for the City Gate restoration and whether the government has decided to do away with City Gate?

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said Monday’s reply related to contracts by OPM. There is another question regarding the Works Ministry which was not replied yesterday.

Dr Gonzi seemed hesitant to say any more and thus spark off another national controversy. However, he did say that a national discussion on City Gate was perhaps necessary. This is not trying to take people’s minds off today’s serious problems, said Dr Gonzi. We must have the courage to take decisions, he added.

There exist proposals for City Gate, such as those by Renzo Piano. Although this site has been in need of attention for the last 60 years, every time someone thinks of tackling it, there is a huge wave of criticism.

We must thus explore all possibilities for City Gate. It is about time to do up the entire area. What does the Opposition think of City Gate? Is there agreement that the area needs to be addressed? Is there any project that can be discussed?

Dr Gonzi said that as prime minister he would like the capital city of Malta to have an entrance that would welcome everybody. Today it is anything but that.

There must be discussion on this, but the discussion must be a mature one.

Of course, there are financial issues that need to be taken into consideration.

In a parting shot, Dr Gonzi said we must also talk about the alternatives. What would it cost to rebuild the Opera House?

What would it cost to run? How would an Opera House situated at the entrance of our capital city impact on the finances of the Manoel Theatre? What impact would this have on the Mediterranean Conference Centre?

In yet another parliamentary question, Charles Buhagiar asked Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett where the project co-ordination unit is working? And how much is Prof. England being paid?

Mr Mugliett replied that the project co-ordination unit is working with Professor England. So as to ensure better coordination, the project co-ordination unit and Prof. England are working from the latter’s studio.

The architect’s fee is regulated by Schedule K. The final payment, however, will take in consideration the fact that most of the work being done is actually being done by a team which is directly financed by government.