It must be manageable: Suri

By Taromane Martin

Task Force 2023 Chairman Mr Gabriel Suri.

SOLOMON Islands 2023 Pacific Games Task Force says they want the proposed national sports stadium for the 2023 Games to be manageable after the games.

Speaking to the media on Friday, Task Force 2023 Chairman, Mr Gabriel Suri said they will need to have further discussions with the Solomon Islands National University (SINU) and King George Sixth National School, whose lands the stadium will be built on, to come to an understanding about, after the games.

“We need to sign an MOU with SINU and King George Sixth School because we are interested in their grounds,” Suri said.

“The MOUs we want to negotiate with them will cover ownership, management and control, and the accessibility of the facilities for the public after the games.

“These are the things we need to negotiate with the institution and have to come to a clear understanding on how to control and manage the facilities.

“All I’m asking for is for these institutions to come with an open mind and speak objectively about their intentions,” he said.

Mr Suri adds they will also try to get response from the Taiwan Embassy, whose country has openly agreed to finance the building of the facilities.

“What we are going to do and try to complete in the next days and weeks is to really settle down with Taiwan on the MOU.

“We have given them the memorandum of understanding; they have received it and we have also had dialogues with them.

“They are waiting for two things. They are waiting from response from their Headquarters in Taipei and secondly they would want the two government, ours and theirs, to settle all the financial arrangements.

“They are looking at the big package. What component for that package will be for the PG? Now we need to come up with an amount so it could be considered in the discussion.

“The other big issue we are trying to settle is the design concept we want for the national stadium. We took the biding in Vanuatu a design that was given to us by a local architect.

“But when we discuss with technical teams from Taiwan they have some concepts as well to look at and were proposed to us.

“We need to take all these design concepts and put them on one table, discuss and must agree on what concept we are to use.

“Our preference is that we want a concept that we can build at a minimum cost. We want a concept that after construction and the games, it will be able to be serviced and maintained.

“Those are the concepts and principle we want to work by and the important things we need to settle at the moment,” he said.

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