Games hope must be there

 THE XV Pacific Games to be staged in Port Moresby will take centre stage in the nation’s capital and   the rest of Papua New Guinea as the sporting event of 2015.

No other event, gathering or celebration will match the amount of effort that has gone into it. 

The staging of this regional sporting showpiece is K1.2 billion in State funding. That is as big a price tag as any project attempted in the country.

But there are genuine concerns 130 days out from the opening ceremony that the event will not live up to the expectations, that despite its initial billing as a Games to remember it could well end up being a mediocre instalment.

Nobody wants that. Not the visitors, not the athletes, not the fans, not the PNG Government or the people.

While everything is being done to have the venues prepared as early as May or June and ready for the official handing over to the Pacific Games Council, there is mounting concern that the structures, the most crucial element of any large scale multi-sport event will not be completed to the level that will ensure a respectable level of competition.

The last time the Games were held in the country was in 1991. It still is considered one of the better organised and more memorable Games. That event had its issues leading up to its opening ceremony but none were as worrying or as clearly problematic as what the 2015 organisers are facing.

Although they may not admit it, they are against the clock and must find a way to deliver a Pacific Games comparable to the last one held in Noumea, New Caledonia, in 2011.

Sports Minister Justin Tkat­chenko, Games Organising Committee chief executive officer Peter Stewart and Pacific Games Authority chairman Kostas Constantinou are the men who will be feeling the pressure. 

On their shoulders lies the responsibility for making these Games a success. The buck stops with them. The men most frequently in the spotlight have been Tkatchenko and Stewart. Both have stuck to their guns and pushed ahead.

There is something to be said for the single-mindedness and the will to get things done. But the question remains will the 2015 Games be a mountain too high?

If you were to take a person who had no prior knowledge of the Games on a tour of the venues and ask them afterwards when he or she thinks the venues will be complete they would probably say in a year’s time at the earliest.

That is not the case here. The Venues, Infrastructure and Equipment Committee, the group that oversees the construction, have the unenviable task of pushing the builders of the Sir John Guise Stadium and indoor complex, the Bisini sports ground development, the Rita Flynn netball complex, the Games Village and the Taurama Aquatic Centre so they can be in an acceptable state when July 4 rolls around.

With most of the concern on the readiness of the fields, courts, greens and pools, other aspects of the Games have been lost in the noise.

The event will see the police, defence force and Australian Federal Police combine to provide an unprecedented level of security in the nation’s capital during the two-week event. This will provide the police and the army a chance to test their capability ahead of the APEC summit in 2018.   

An estimated K70 million will be sent on security alone for the Games. 

And that money is not part of the Games budget. 

Up to 3000 volunteers will be used during the Games to help run events, control crowds, help at venues in different capacities and generally ensure that the core responsibilities of the Games organisers are met to provide a safe, enjoyable experience.

More than 200 local companies will benefit as a result from the Games. 

That can only be good for the local economy. 

One hopes that the Pacific Games can set its own benchmark and be an event to remember for all the right reasons. 

It may not be perfect in every way but it is ours and we should hope for the best and trust that the people given the job of delivering  it can do so. 

Will it be the best ever, only time will tell.