I have come to the conclusion that the Prime Minister has opted not to rebuild the opera house because this government cannot even afford to maintain a radio station dedicated almost wholly to classical music and other cultural programmes.

I am referring to the now defunct radio station, FM Bronja, which relied mostly on music lovers producing programmes for peanuts from their own CD collections.

It has been said that every European city has its own opera house, if not two or three. Even a small town like Busseto in Le Roncole, where Giuseppe Verdi was born, has an opera house even though it is perhaps as small as our national theatre, the Manoel.

The Teatro alla Scala in Milan was badly damaged during World War II but the Italians managed to rebuild it and have it inaugurated by the great conductor Arturo Toscanini.

In the 1990s, the Teatro Petruzelli in Bari and La Fenice in Venice were destroyed by fire (for La Fenice it was the second time). Today, both theatres stand high and mighty in their former site, giving endless musical pleasure to opera lovers from all over the world.

Malta deserves no less; I think it should also have an opera house we could all be proud of. But, since this government is displaying such meanness where opera and classical music is concerned, it appears that we are not likely to have this. I urge the Prime Minister to think again.