Bird clarifies mix-up that caused Apec tour cancellation

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
EAST Sepik Governor Allan Bird says the Apec Coordination Authority never communicated with the provincial organising committee about the Apec delegation’s visit.
Bird said this yesterday after an Apec delegation arrived in Wewak from Port Moresby on Tuesday for a one-day official trip only to find out that the province was not ready to welcome them.
“On behalf of the provincial government, I sincerely apologise to our visiting delegates for the inconveniences and any bad impression they may have received while in Wewak,” he said.
“The incident is quite regrettable and highlights the issues of managing events by remote control from Waigani.
“From my understanding, the organising committee in Wewak had cancelled the trip the day before due to no confirmation from Apec officials in Port Moresby.
“An advance team from Apec was supposed to arrive in Wewak on Friday to conform the arrangements and sort out police escorts and other things.
“The advance team never arrived.
“On Monday evening, since Apec staff had still not showed up in the province, the organising team decided to cancel the event.
“Everyone in Wewak was caught by surprise when the plane arrived the next day.
“I want to assure the public that we don’t have security issues in Wewak.
“In fact, our crime statistics are very good.”