The Government is still committed to set up a National Arts Gallery as promised in the electoral manifesto.

This would serve as a national showcase to the many works of Maltese artists who were, till now, barely appreciated by the public, Tourism Minister Karmenu Vella and Parliamentary Secretary Jose Herrera said.

Their reaction came after artists yesterday expressed shock at the news that the Government was ditching plans to move the National Museum of Fine Arts out of its present inadequate location, against the advice of Tate experts.

Before taking the decision of where this project should be, the Government should consider a number of other sites which could be ideal to make artistic cultural heritage more accessible.

In this process, the Government was committed to listen rather than talk and study all possibilities so that once an agreement was reached, the project would belong to artists.

The Government was also giving culture priority increasing the vote dedicated to culture by €1.6 million.

This was apart from many other new initiatives announced by the Government for next year in many cultural sectors, they said.