Old funeral carriages for state funerals

It is very regrettable that the three horse-drawn carriages that were presented by Fidel Mifsud to the Director of Museums in the early 1980s have not been displayed to the public.

Furthermore, according to the report on The Times of April 20, it appears that these beautiful works of art may end up being exported to Australia. This would be an irreparable loss to our cultural heritage!

The authorities should find a way of reaching a compromise with Mr Mifsud to keep these carriages in Malta, where they belong. In order to ensure that in future these carriages are put to proper use, I suggest that they should be transferred to the custody of the Armed Forces of Malta or to the Police Force for ceremonial use in state funerals.

In this day and age it does not make sense to carry the coffin of a statesman on a gun carriage, as has been the practice so far during state funerals.

Malta is a peaceful nation and gun carriages should be reserved for military purposes. The use of these carriages in state funerals would add to the reverence of such occasions and serve as a purpose for keeping the carriages well maintained for posterity.