Letters | Sunday, 26 July 2009

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A smokescreen of a parliament

Ms Astrid Vella has managed to read and express my thoughts about this smokescreen project presented by the PM.
The PM should know that this project is not in the public interest, it is not a nation’s quest, the majority of the people couldn’t careless about this Piano project and it is not the right time for it.
However, there are certain people/sectors who lauded this project as if Malta was passing though very good times, carelessly and downright egoistically disregarding the present difficult times that Malta is facing (most probably the worst time since Malta became a Republic) and it smells like a very cheap propaganda shot.
The PM was insulting the people by stating that the money is coming from public funds. Therefore the PM is doing things against the people’s will, as the main sponsors of this Piano project were not consulted but simply disregarded, overruled as if we were simpletons.
It is just a smokescreen project and it would never be completed in time and it would cost more than €80 million.
Two projects demonstrate this. The Delimara Power Station and the Mater Dei ‘state of the art’ hospital, where all the citizens of this island are still paying for it. I can only advise the PM to carry on fooling us and he would get a clear reply in the next general election, be it in less than four years or much more less than that.
He should remember that in a matter of some sixteen months he lost the fifth-seat majority in parliament, scraped through a perverse ruling by having a wafer-thin majority in the same parliament, lost heavily in the MEP election and also in the local council elections. Carry on with this recipe for self-inflicted disasters, dear PM.

Philip Pace
Santa Venera

Now that we are living in times of change – for example, changing an opera house into a tennis court – I suggest that we change another tradition from the time of the knights. The tradition is that of confectioners’ special ‘cake’ in the form of a pyramid called prinjolata, a very popular sweet during carnival week.
In order to keep ‘with it’ our confectioners should from next year produce a rectangular cake with rough edges and pipes sticking up all around it. This could be called Renzolata or Pianolata. I am sure it will be quite a lot of fun to produce and market this new tradition; after all our youth could not care less about the majesty of the Royal Opera House but will surely like a modern design.

George P. Zammit
Mosta

Allow me to make some comments about Renzo Piano’s plans for City Gate, Freedom Square and the Royal Opera House site.
On City Gate the obvious remark is that such a historic, dignified and fortified city as Valletta, will end up with no “Gate” at all at its main entrance – something which one expects to find in a fortified city. Surely, a replica of the old City Gate – or even a greatly revamped City Gate – would give our capital city a much more dignified appearance than just a plain opening in the bastions.
As regards Freedom Square, rather than building in it a new modern parliament – which no one had asked for, and which, anyway, could be relocated elsewhere if this is so necessary – Freedom Square could be turned into a beautiful Piazza by upgrading it, say, by building a beautiful fountain, new paving, floor-lighting, water jets, etc. While the surrounding shopping arcade would be equally turned into a true arcade by changing those rectangular constructions into arches and round columns with suitable artistic lanterns, I am certain that we have enough excellent architects, designers, and artists who could turn Freedom Square into a square we could all be proud of, instead of having a new parliament which no one had asked for. And, ironically, at a time when the role of the Maltese parliament consists mainly in rubber-stamping EU legislation!
I come to Renzo Piano’s plan for the Teatru Rjal site. The renowned architect has said that the site is too small for an opera house of this day and age. But surely, that site could be enlarged if this is actually necessary. Both sideways, as well as lengthwise. At the back of the existing site, across the road, is a building occupied by the Sovereign Military Order of St John. It seems to be a relatively new construction. If this building were to be taken over by the government and a suitable alternative building is given to the Order, that building, and possibly an adjacent smaller house next to it, can be demolished (just as the building which houses the Valletta Police Station across the road is also planned to be demolished) to make way for rerouting the present road which links Freedom Square to Castille Place, passing behind the Opera House site. Hence the Opera House site could then be extended back as much as possible.
Similarly, the site can also be extended sideways since the width of the road between the site and Freedom Square is more than enough to allow part of it to be taken over for the building of it-Teatru Rjal. But, unfortunately, in my view the rebuilding of the Opera House was never considered because the decision not to rebuild it had already been taken by Dr Gonzi.
Hence I am convinced that the brief given to Renzo Piano excluded the rebuilding of the Teatru Rjal or any other roofed building on the site. But having Renzo Piano say it would save Dr Gonzi’s face since there are many who are ready to accept what Renzo Piano says or decides. Especially since Dr Gonzi had again promised in the PN’s electoral manifesto in 2008, page 66 no. 298: “Jinbnew it-Teatru Rjal u Bieb il-Belt”. Neither Bieb il-Belt is being rebuilt (because it is being demolished, leaving just an opening as the main entrance to Valletta); nor is the Opera House being rebuilt, because the site is being turned into an open-air arts place leaving the World War II ruins in their place and using cosmetic surgery to impress people that those ruins have now, all of a sudden, become a “monument”!

Eddy Privitera
Mosta

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