Games to get funding

By GYNNIE KERO
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says more funding has been allocated in the supplementary budget towards the hosting of the PNG Games in Kimbe, West New Britain.
O’Neill told Parliament yesterday that the Government would provide transport subsidy for athletes who would be travelling to participate in the ninth PNG Games in November.
He was responding to questions by Governor Sasindran Muthuvel on the Government’s support towards the hosting of the national event in Kimbe. “The Games has been postponed twice,” Muthuvel said.
“West New Britain as a province, we agreed to host it.
“We already spent over K20 million in terms of building education infrastructures for the visiting teams to stay, in terms of accommodation.”
O’Neill, after indicating the Government’s support, requested that the PNG Games be hosted every three years to give breathing space for funding arrangements.
O’Neill said: “Let me confirm that there will be no further delays as to the hosting of the PNG Games.
“I know it’s quite a distance for many of the provinces to travel to and I can assure the governor that Government will provide some funding for airfare travel for athletes who are going to the games.
“Let us limit the numbers so that we can try and transport everybody to the games as much as possible. We will also during the supplementary budget put some more funding assistance for the games to be hosted. We look forward to the commencement of the games in November.
“In future we need to also look at the way selection of the hosting of the games because its putting unnecessary burdens on provincial budgets.
“So we need to delay, rather than doing it on an annual basis, we need to do it biannual or every three years so that there is a breathing space between the games so that the funding arrangements that are needed to hosting the games are in place before we allocate to the provinces.”