Sports policy miss out on budget allocation but foundation positive

THE Papua New Guinea Sports Foundation says the recently-launched national sports policy has missed out on funding following the passing of the national budget earlier this month.
Foundation executive director Albert Veratau said there was no specific allocation for the policy, however, he remained positive about support from development partners and stakeholders.
“The budget has come out and there’s no real specific allocation for the implementation of the policy,” he said.
“We need to understand that not everything is going to be driven by money and I think there’s a lot of creativity in any organisation to ensure that parts of the policy can be implemented without the budget that you require.
“Support from development partners is an important part of the implementation.
“It warms your heart that there is a lot of good out there and there are people out there who want to support and be a part of that implementation.”
Veratau said the policy also included government departments that would be collaborating with the foundation to implement parts of the policy.
“We have stakeholders in the policy like the Education Department, Department of Justice and Attorney-General, Health Department, Department of Personnel Management and the Australian High Commission.
“We’re already talking with the Education Department to draw up a memorandum of understanding, so we can go into the schools and start work on the early implementation of the policy,” he said.
“We will also be re-introducing a pikinini (children) sports programme in Port Moresby, Lae, Goroka and Kokopo.”