When Alfred Sant was in power between 1996 and 1998, you would have thought that he had suggested that people should walk around naked with a mouse in their mouth when he decided to revamp Charles Barry’s masterpiece into something else other than an opera house. Now the boot’s on the other foot and the Nationalist regime wants to make it a comfy cosy boring Parliament building.

Not content with the one they have now at Palace Square, they want to squander money from the taxes we pay to rebuild the old opera house into a Renzo Piano plan that will benefit only those who are Members of Parliament and the Prime Minister himself. What a bunch of hypocrites! Isn’t it about time that these people donned their thinking cap on and thought of others rather than themselves? What exactly will the people of Valletta gain from a stylish decorative building when most of the Beltin will probably never set foot inside that place?

What use is it to tourists who come on holiday expecting to see something worthy of being described as splendid upon entering Valletta? What do they care about who sits on the Opposition benches and where the party in power sits? Have the Maltese decided upon an early new year resolution and allowed themselves to become meek and feeble rather than shun the Renzo Piano plan? And then from people who shunned and resented Dr Sant for wanting to eliminate entirely what Barry was famous for. The Nationalists’ plan for the old opera house is as enticing as eating dry hamburgers on Christmas Day!

Valerie Borg

Valletta