Following on from my dissertation on the ruining of the Manoel Theatre some weeks back, a good friend drew my attention to a far greater anomaly. While Teatru Manoel may have been, not irreparably, ruined (one hopes), the theatre known as Teatru Rjal is currently in an even greater state of ruin than the Germans managed to inflict on it in 1942.

The majestic edifice of architect William Middleton Barry's Royal Opera House stood at the entrance to Valletta for some 76 years. It was constructed between 1862 and 1866 and, when completed, dominated the upper end of Strada Reale (Republic Street). After its destruction, courtesy of the German Luftwaffe in April 1942, it lay derelict and sad for almost 70 years. I understand that at the end of hostilities the West German government did offer to reconstruct the theatre in its previous state, but this was apparently refused by the Malta government of the day.

Instead it eventually became incorporated in the rehabilitation of Kingsgate by the renowned Italian architect, Renzo Piano.

Obviously Piano's brief concentrated on the construction of the new parliament complex across the square. The restoration of the Royal Opera House had to wait for the completion of work on parliament and the entrance façade before a few pennies could be made available to spend on the "rebuilding" of the theatre.

In the event this proved totally inadequate... what we got was a "we'll do what we can with whatever cash is left over" job.

In other words: "A complete and utter cock-up." A roofless mess that I cannot believe Sr Piano could ever be proud to own-up to. And yes, I did once suffer through a concert in the laughingly named Teatru Rjal, but never again. Or not until someone in authority who thinks that culture is slightly more than the stuff that you find in yoghourt decides to do a proper reconstruction job on it. Quite apart from the hard, uncomfortable seats, the extraneous noise from the rest of Valletta made the experience a total nightmare. I could just imagine what it would be like when there is a feast in the vicinity or across the water in one of the three cities. And of course the place (I cannot dignify it by calling it a theatre) is completely unusable during the winter months.

The previous PN government was responsible for this abomination; the current PL administration has done nothing to mitigate the disaster. Nor do I expect them to, that might curtail funds set to be funnelled to "people of 'truss'".

I can remember way back in the 1970s, when I was but a little lad. At that time a lot of people were bemoaning government's attitude towards anything cultural. In those days high culture was Id-Daddy or (God help us) Gensna. Nothing changes... except somewhere to put the bloody things on.

We've lost Teatru Manoel to some crass reseating plan and the Royal Opera House should really change its name to Teatru White Elephant; since it is probably the most impractical and useless cultural venue in the entire Mediterranean... if not the whole wide world.

So goodbye Teatru Manoel... I can't say au revoir to the open-air disaster, since it's never been - nor ever will be - a culture centre. They might just as well bulldoze it flat, then hand it over to Mr Debono to build yet more unoccupied flats on the site.

I despair, I really do.