Games Village

Team Samoa Chef de Mission, Nynette Sass says athletes will check out from their place of accommodation after completing their events.

“The first wave of athletes checking in and it depends on the sports schedule for first week and second week. So those competing in the first week will come in and check in and do the competition and then check out and then next wave comes in.”

“So in that way we don’t get to overload the system too much,” she said.

Christophe Dabin is the General Secretary of the National French and Sporting Olympic Committee (CNOSF) of New Caledonia and knows this well.

He also understands the value of his team staying together in the Games Village at the Methodist Church Compound at Faleula at the XVI Pacific Games in July.

Any team who stays together, will win together,” he says.

This was also the philosophy of the Pacific Games Office in choosing the location and bringing the Games slogan, One in Spirit, into reality.

For more than twenty years, residents have had to wake up at odd hours in the morning just to fetch water.

However, this was made even worse when water supply has been limited for about five months now.

Frustrated wives of the police officers told this newsroom that most of them have been facing this issue since moving to the barracks after the South Pacific Games in 1991.

The group of women told this newsroom that concerned authorities are aware of this issue.

Preparations are progressing well to accommodate over 2400 athletes and officials coming from 24 countries in the region including New Zealand and Australia.

No budget was allocated specifically for Game Villages, so Van2017 will be using five schools as the games villages.

These schools are Lycee, INTV, Ecole D’Anabrou, Fresh Wota and Central School.

 Although there are five schools, Van2017 is looking at them as only 3 village sites because three schools are in close proximity.

Lycee, INTV and Ecole D’Naburu will be classed as only one village.

Representing the PNG National Government was Minister for Sorts, tourism and culture  Justin Tkatchenko, the Governor of NCD Powes Parkop and on behalf of the Prime Minister at occasion was the Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology Malakhai Tabar.

Before officially handing over the key to the UPNG administration, Minister Tkatchenko challenged the students and the administration to take good care of the complex facility as it one of the world class facilities in the Pacific.

 He said while it will now remain the property of UPNG, the university does not have the capacity to manage it.

The village was constructed at a total cost of K240 million and consists of 30 buildings and more than 1,500 rooms.

Sports Minister Justin Tkatchenko says with such a state of the art facility, it needs to be outsourced to professionals to ensure that it’s run properly for the students as well as future sporting and major events in our country.