Northern Marianas

Concerns due to COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the General Management Team to opt against a formal farewell reception.

The team is taking a contingent of 119 made up of 85 athletes and 34 officials including the General Management Team.

Team PNG will take part in five sports from the nine on offer and are expected to perform very strongly at this event.

Team Athletics makes up the bulk of the contingent with 37 athletes and seven team officials, followed by Va’a with 27 athletes and four team officials.

While the Pacific Mini Games will be hosting nine sports, Athletics, Badminton, Baseball, Beach Volleyball, Golf, Tennis, Triathlon, Va’a and Weightlifting, PNG will only participate in five.  

The five sports endorsed by the Justification Committee are Athletics, Golf, Tennis, Va’a and Weightlifting.

Beach Volleyball and Triathlon were not endorsed and will miss out due to non-compliance with the requirements. Baseball and Badminton National Federation opted not to participate in the Pacific Mini Games due to their team’s readiness.

Final endorsements of Athletes and Officials will be made when the Justification Committee meets on Tuesday 28th of February, next week.

Under the Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee, the Justification Committee is the body that deliberates and endorses sports and their top athletes to participate as Team PNG in Olympic, Commonwealth and the Pacific Games. 

Sports representing Papua New Guinea in Saipan are Athletics, Beach Volleyball, Golf, Tennis, Va’a and Weightlifting.

This follows the successful staging of the PNG Air National Championships in Kimbe in December and the grand prix competitions in Port Moresby and Kimbe.

This early selection has been necessitated due to limited major competition opportunities during the first quarter of 2022 and final nominations being due in April 2022. 

Headed up by Olympian Rellie Kaputin, 19 male and 14 female athletes are being nominated to the PNG Olympic Committee for inclusion in this first round.

Male athletes

The Public School System says two of the new cases relate to the Chacha Oceanview Middle School and Francisco M. Sablan Middle School.

The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp has yet to state where the third case was identified.

Effective from today, Governor Ralph Torres has directed the temporary closure of all public and private schools and colleges to mitigate against community spread.

As contact tracing in relation to the cases swung into action, Mr Torres has reassured the public that the CNMI would be able to contain the outbreak.

At its centre, the typhoon has winds as high as 200km/h, and the storm was forecast to intensify as it moved into open ocean.

There are currently no reports of major damage in the Northern Marianas.

Schools and government offices are closed again today, and US president Donald Trump last night approved an emergency declaration for the territory.

The National Weather Service in Guam says residents should continue to monitor information from their service as well as the local emergency management offices.

It says people with respiratory health problems should minimise time outdoors when the haze is evident.

Mariners and pilots have also been warned to be aware of the slightly lower visibility.

Satellite imagery shows a dense plume of haze spanning the central Pacific that becomes more diffused closer to the Marianas.

The haze is being carried along by the east-northeast trade winds.

The video has prompted animal rights activists to call for legislation making animal abuse a crime.

On Wednesday, the Bureau of Environmental Health suspended the operation of Happiness Chinese Restaurant on Saipan after it was found in violation of sanitary regulations.

The suspension was not prompted by the video or claims the establishment was serving cat meat.

An anti-animal cruelty bill to protect cats and dogs that are house pets is currently languishing in the CNMI Senate after passing the House last year.

Saipan will host the 2021 Mini Games and President of the Northern Marianas Sports Association, Michael White, said all sporting facilities are already in place except for the toilet and shower blocks, which need federal funding.

He said this month's Mini Games in Vanuatu set a very high bar and were more upscale than what they have planned.

"We have all of our sporting facilities in place - we've organised international competition in virtually every sport that we're going to offer," he said.

Mr Norita's comments come after the response time to a recent household fire came under scrutiny from family members.

He said the CNMI currently has no specialised system to handle emergency calls.

"Currently it's just telephone lines, that's all it is," he said.