Pride in the Opera House taken away

When I was a teenager, my cousin and I used to go to Valletta and stroll up and down Kingsway, as it was known at the time, where everyone else used to go in the evening. As we walked along Kingsway, we used to see people going in and out of the Old Opera House to attend an opera or concert. My cousin and I used to say to each other, when we grow up and are able to afford a ticket we hope we will be part of the audience. Unfortunately, the war came and the Luftwaffe left the Opera House building in ruins, and our wishes never came true. After the war, when unemployment in Malta was high, everyone was leaving the island for Canada, Australia and the United States to seek work and earn a better living.

If I am not mistaken, the German government compensated Malta to rebuild the Opera House, but the party that was in power at that time decided to use the money for something else and to this day the Opera House is still a memory. Now the present government wants to build the Parliament on the site of the Opera House, once the showcase of the Maltese.

It is wrong for the government of any party to be so selfish as to take away the pride of the Maltese people in the Opera House by building a Parliament instead. I am sure if one looks around Valletta one will find a suitable location for Parliament. St Elmo is one such location, the market in Merchant Street and the Main Guard a couple of others.

Do not steal the pride that the citizen once felt. After all, the Opera House belonged to all Maltese and not to those in power. I hope that whoever is behind this movement to build the Parliament instead of an Opera House will rethink their options. The people of Malta come first and the Parliament second. I strongly condemn the idea of building a Parliament and not an Opera House where the citizens of Malta can enjoy themselves as they once did.