Committees and funding set for preparation stage

By KEITH PUARIA
THE 2015 Pacific Games opening ceremony will be on July 4 in Port Moresby – three years, two months and 14 days from today.
The country now has that window to prepare venues, technical officials and volunteers for the largest sporting event it has hosted since 1991.
This was confirmed by PNG Sports Federation and Olympic Committee  president Sir Henry ToRobert yesterday in Port Moresby.
Competition will run for two weeks until July 18 with the Games Village at the University of PNG expected to start taking in visiting teams on July 1.
The PNG Pacific Games Association will notify member PGAs (nations) of the dates.
“The confirmation comes after consultation with the Pacific Games Council and international federations,” Sir Henry said.
The confirmed dates now give the PNG2015 Games Organising Committee (GOC), chaired by Emma Waiwai, a target to work towards.
Sir Henry further gave assurance of progress made thus far, especially with the establishment of the Venues, Infrastructure and Equipment Committee (VIEC) headed by Steamships Properties man Andrew Potter, in reply to queries regarding games venues and facilities in the time frame.
“Its work in progress, at this stage, the work they are doing is currently on designs”, Sir Henry said of the VIEC.
He also confirmed the receipt of K20mill of the Governments K200mill commitment, which was receipted into the Pacific Games (2015) Authority Account. 
Businessman Kostas Constantinou heads this authority, a committee set up for the purpose of managing funding and allocation to preparation projects for PG2015.     
A contingent from the Pacific Games Council Board, led by president Vidhya Lakhan will arrive at the end of the month to assess progress leading in.
GOC chairperson Waiwai, who was also present, said that she was overwhelmed by the expressions of interest from individuals to work as volunteers, and that announcements would be made soon regarding the initial set up of her committees office.The PNG Pacific Games Association will notify member PGAs (nations) of the dates.
“The confirmation comes after consultation with the Pacific Games Council and international federations,” Sir Henry said.
The confirmed dates now give the PNG2015 Games Organising Committee (GOC), chaired by Emma Waiwai, a target to work towards.
Sir Henry gave further assurance of progress made thus far, especially with the establishment of the Venues, Infrastructure and Equipment Committee (VIEC) headed by Steamships’ Andrew Potter, in reply to queries regarding games venues and facilities in the time frame.
“It’s very much a work in progress at this stage. The work they are doing is currently on the design stage,” Sir Henry said of the VIEC.
He also confirmed the receipt of K20 million of the government’s K200 million commitment, which was receipted into the Pacific Games (2015) Authority account. 
Businessman Kostas Constantinou heads the authority, a committee set up for the purpose of managing funding and allocations to projects for the games.     
A contingent from the Pacific Games Council board, led by president Vidhya Lakhan, will arrive at the end of the month to assess progress.
Lakhan, who visited the capital earlier this year, has made it clear he wants to see progress to seal our hosting rights.
GOC chairperson Waiwai said that she was overwhelmed by the expressions of interest from individuals to work as volunteers, and  announcements would be made soon regarding the initial set up of her committee office.