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Julian Manduca
While Prime Minister Lawrence is determined to push ahead with plans to locate the House of Parliament on the site of the former Royal Malta Opera House, education minister Louis Galea said the government is willing to consider all proposals including that of a large theatre.
While on Wednesday, Louis Galea told an aggressive audience at a session of Theatre Traffic that the government was keeping an open mind, Lawrence Gonzi is determined to see the ruins turned into a House of Parliament.
Galea assured all present that no decision has been taken so far but aides close to the Prime Minister told MaltaToday Lawrence Gonzi will not budge on his pro-parliament wish.
Architect Richard England has been asked to consider the feasibility of having a Parliament on the site in terms of space and aesthetics and the move has angered many. Architects are up in arms because they feel England should not have been hand-picked by government again, Labour spokesperson for tourism Evarist Bartolo spoke against the idea of a Parliament on that site in the name of his Party, and AD chairman Harry Vassallo discounted the idea of building the site at all, citing financial reasons.
The audience at Theatre Traffic was hostile to the idea of a Parliament on site and the response from the public has been generally negative, with most commentators arguing for a theatre or some sort of cultural centre, if not an opera house.
Louis Galea pointed out that a cultural venue will be very costly to run, but others in the audience said culture attracted money and created jobs. A protest march and street theatre organised by Theatre Traffic that was meant to take place on Friday to protest against the idea of a Parliament House on the opera house site was cancelled because of poor attendance: only a dozen protestors turned up.
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