Main Guard the best site for Parliament

The letter by Michael Bonnici, an ex-MP and deputy Speaker for several years, entitled Main Guard for Parliament (December 27) prompted me to write again on this subject. The idea of building Parliament House at the Main Guard block is not a new one. It goes back to the 1920s when Malta was granted self government for the first time.

Way back in 2004, I suggested this site in a letter which appeared in The Times together with a photo of the Main Guard. In that letter, I wrote: "During my research work, I came across a proposal made at the then House of Representatives for the building of a new Parliament house. The site chosen, about 80 years ago, was exactly the whole block of buildings where the Main Guard once stood. Together with this proposal, a Paper was laid on the Table of the House containing plans for offices, shops, and two Chambers, one for the House of Representatives and another for the Senate. The 1921 Constitution contemplated two chambers and not one as it is today. These designs included also an elaborate façade matching that of the Presidential Palace on the opposite side of the square."

I also suggested to the Minister concerned to have a look at these plans which can be easily found by consulting the Index for Papers Laid on the Table of the House between 1921 and 1930. I think this is the best site for building our Parliament.

As for the site of the old Opera House, I appeal to the government to re-build it as it was. All the opera houses in the European capital cities destroyed during the war were rebuilt after the end of the war. Only that in the capital city of Malta remained in ruins. It is a shame on all the governments elected between 1947 and today.