‘Village is first-class’

 By PETER SEVARA Jr

THE 2015 Pacific Games Village is taking shape and is built to rival the Games Village accommodation produced for the Commonwealth Games for 2014 in Glasgow according to the Minister for Sports and National Events Justin Tkatchenko.

“I went to Glasgow, I went to their games village, we walked around and had a look, and I can tell you now, what we have here is better than what Glasgow produced for the Commonwealth Games,” Tkatchenko, pictured, said.

“We should be proud of what the government is producing, it is first class and that will last,” Tkatchenko said.

Tkatchenko was accompanied by Pacific Games Authority chairman Kostas Constantinou as they inspected the Games village construction site yesterday.

 Both men conduct monthly inspections of Pacific Games sites around Port Moresby, one of them being the Games Village located in the University of Papua New Guinea grounds.

“Initially it was a difficult job but we finally the project is underway,” Constantinou said.

“It’s excellent. We’ve had two years to build these facilities – even though it’s usually a three-year project. We’ve condensed that all into two years. 

“Things started off slowly but the contractor is working around the clock, and we’ve visited all the sites and are quite pleased,” Constantinou said.

The K240 million project has 10 blocks that contain three buildings combining to a total of 1000 rooms to accommodate four thousand athletes. 

Each block will have six mini suites and will cater for those who have a disability. Each block will have a total of 270 rooms and a level that will cater for ablutions and laundry.

The project architect is New Zealand-based Warren and Mahoney. Company representative Ben Morrison said the Games Village design was based on a “village” atmosphere.

“The idea was that there was an awful lot of people to house,” Morrison.

“If it was any European country, we would have massive blocks of highrise buildings. But that wasn’t appropriate here, so what we’ve done is create outdoor spaces. 

“It’s about creating heaps of spaces and creating identity in each block. Each block will have its own identity, so you figure where you live by the colour of the walls, on it, symbols, artwork unique to each nation, making it more a village atmosphere rather than a highrise apartment eventually giving it a village feel,” Morrison said. 

The Games Village will be given to the UPNG administration after the Games to cater for the intake of students and each room will house two students.