“2013 host contract needs strengthening”: Minoque

By Taromane Martin

SOLOMON Islands need to strengthen its contract in hosting the 2023 Pacific Games here in Honiara.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the Pacific Games Council Mr Andrew Minogue made the comments last Friday during a joint press conference with the 2023Honiara Task Force.

Mr Minogue who was in the country with PGC President Mr Vidahy Lakhan last week said they have had a positive visit meeting with the stakeholders involved in delivering the 2023 Pacific Games.

“We have a host contract which was signed on the 11 of May 2016 when you won the bid. However that contract needs strengthening,” Minogue said.

It needs some definite dates and delivery points particularly around the facilities and funding that is going to go towards the facilities and the games organising committee.

“The reason we wanted to strengthen the contract was not because of what has or has not been done by the Solomon’s.

“So we’ve drafted a document, we’ve had very good support for the document both with the government and NOCSI and we hope to finalize that legally in the next couple of weeks and add it to the host contract,” he adds.

The CEO said they also visited the Prime Minister, Minister for Sports, Task Force 2023 and the NOCSI executive board during their four days visit.

“For us he is a new Prime Minister. He’s not the one who was in office and came to Vanuatu in May of 2016 when Solomon Islands bid for the games, won the rights and signed a contract with us to host the 2023 Pacific Games.

“The new PM had a very positive meeting with us and we can tell he is dedicated to the task of delivering the 2023 games.

“He assured us and we had every reason to believe him that the cabinet and members of Parliament are all united in wanting the games here in 2023.

“We also met the Minister of Sports and for us again he is a new spots Minister. We met with the NOCSI executive board to go through some of the issues regarding 2023.

“We also met several time with the Task Force 2023. What we’ve done with them was we worked on some time lines and milestones we want to achieve on the road to 2023.

“If all the parties stick to the time lines that are outlined in that document then we will have a very successful game here in 2023,” he said.

Meanwhile, PGC President Mr Vidayh Lakhan said his visit to the country is all about strengthening NOCSI so Solomon Islands can deliver a successful game.

“This is all have to do with being open and transparent and practising some good governance at the same time.

“Those are some of the initial things we’ve done to strengthen and empower NOCSI to become better in their administration, better in their service delivery to national federations.

“NOCSI will be reporting to ONOC and I will be submitting my own report and from there on ONOC will take it up as to what we will do as the next step.

“What we’re doing is strengthening NOCSI so they can be in a better position to better organise 2023,” Lakhan said.

Discover more from Theislandsun

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading