At a recent media conference, Chairman of the main host organising committee, Sape Molumi, revealed that construction work on the main stadium for the track and field events is now in progress, including facilities for the other team sports.
Despite the negative publicities and the sequence of events that had occurred earlier this year, Mendi and Southern Highlands as a whole is ready to welcome visiting provincial teams to the games once the PNG Games Council gives a thumbs up.
While awaiting final endorsement from the PNG Games Council, the host organising committee hopes the staging of the inaugural Hope Cup exhibition match between the NCDC Port Moresby Vipers and PRK Mendi Muruks in Mendi this weekend can only transcend goodwill and peace reconciliation for the province and the country as a whole.