Rebuild the Opera House as it was

Why is it that whenever I return from some trip abroad and enter Valletta on some errand I feel so depressed?

It is because of the eyesore of the Opera House ruins. Many countries have had buildings that were either bombed or burned down or vandalised, but they were all rebuilt.

In 2004, an entire church in Dresden was rebuilt. In Japan and China temples which were burned down have been rebuilt.

In central Shanghai, for instance, where many high-rise buildings have gone up, the former foreign embassies or consulates they replaced have been rebuilt further away to remind the Chinese of their history.

We have many skilled masons who could rebuild the Opera House exactly as it was before the war, even perhaps by using some of the original blocks.

One does not need to have parking facilities underneath. The lower floor could serve as an exhibition hall and double as a concert hall or theatre - no shopping malls please!

The top floor could be built with a higher ceiling to accommodate the Flemish tapestries of St John's Co-Cathedral.

The income from admission tickets to view these tapestries would eventually help to pay for the rebuilding of the Opera House.

I admit that some countries are wealthier than us but the Maltese spend thousands of euros on lotteries... so why not have an Opera House lottery to finance its rebuilding? Many countries adopt this system to restore historical buildings.

Let us set the ball rolling. That eyesore has lasted more than 65 years and it is time to remove it once and for all.