Solomon Islands PM tours Pacific Games venues

While in Port Moresby last week, Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavare toured the Pacific Games venues to learn from the experiences of PNG.

Solomon Islands will be hosting the 2023 Pacific Games and Sogavare says the real work will start after the bid to make sure the infrastructures are ready in time before the Games.

“Since we are here, I know we can learn a lot of from the experience of Papua New Guinea.

“So far this morning we toured a number of sites and one thing of course is the infrastructure.

“So we have two challenges on our hands, first is to make sure that the infrastructure are ready a year before 2023, and the other of course is to continue to use the facilities after the Games,” said Sogavare.

He added he was impressed with the current infrastructure adding it will be a mammoth of a task to equal what PNG is doing.

Sogavare said that PNG is a very big economy and will ably sustain and maintain such infrastructures, however for Solomon Islands, they will be selective on the sports they offer.

“We are of course very selective in the sport we are offering  for 2023, so we will  be building infrastructures according to the games we offer,” said Sogavare.

Sogavare ended his tour at the Taurama Aquatic Centre (TAC) where staff from the High Performance Sport took on him on a tour of the facilities.

He was further impressed with PNG’s scientific approach to improving Sports in Papua New Guinea using the High Performance unit based at the TAC.

He said PNG and the Solomon Islands have a very strong relationship and he has received assurance from the PNG Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill and his Ministers that they will assist in hosting the Games in 2023.

 

 

Author: 
Troy Taule