{"id":326788,"date":"2020-07-22T06:04:07","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T20:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=326788"},"modified":"2020-07-22T06:04:07","modified_gmt":"2020-07-21T20:04:07","slug":"preparations-for-2023-pacific-games-moving-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/preparations-for-2023-pacific-games-moving-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparations for 2023 Pacific Games moving forward"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Lawson Tama Stadium in Honiara hosts soccer matches and will undergo development for the Solomon Islands\u2019 hosting of the 2023 Pacific Games. (SOLOMON ISLANDS FOOTBALL FEDERATION)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Solomon Islands assured stakeholders in the 2023 Pacific Games that preparations for the quadrennial competition are on track.<\/p>\n

In his weekly address, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said the government, through the National Hosting Authority, has already secured resources to construct approximately 80% of the facilities required for the Games.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are confident we can secure the additional 20 percent before 2023,\u201d Sogavare said in a press statement released last Monday.<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister added that despite the current economic slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Solomon Islands government is committed to meet its share of the funding for the 2023 Pacific Games.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe fought hard to be given the honor to host the Games. We will not let go of the Games,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sogavare also said that the NHA has been in regular consultation with the Pacific Games Council to discuss the timelines for the Games.<\/p>\n

Basketball games take place in one of Solomon Islands\u2019 multipurpose gymnasiums. (Contributed Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThree years out, both the NHA and the PGC are confident the Games will occur in 2023. However, both will continue to monitor the global COVID-19 situation in the coming months,\u201d the Prime Minister said.<\/p>\n

Sogavare also shared the developments that the island-nation and its partners have done in the first six months of the year despite the impact that the pandemic has caused across the globe.<\/p>\n

The Solomon Islands has finalized all venues for the 24 sports that will be offered in the Games. These include the brand new 10,000-seater stadium, a 50-metre swimming pool, five tennis courts, a new practice track and field, hockey field, a multipurpose hall, and a 1,200 square meter office block. These facilities will be funded by China, while Indonesia will foot the bill of the construction of a new futsal multipurpose complex.<\/p>\n

The Solomon Islands Football Federation Soccer Academy, on the other hand, is incorporating two soccer fields, an outdoor futsal court, beach soccer and beach volleyball, an office complex, and a 50-bed dormitory and these facilities will be funded by Papua New Guinea and other partners.<\/p>\n

Others venues identified to host the 2023 Pacific Games are the Honiara City Council Multipurpose Hall, Maranatha Hall, Honiara Golf Club, and the DC Park.<\/p>\n

Sogavare said that a team from China will be in Honiara mid next month to consult and finalize the design of the facilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe design and tendering process are being fast-tracked to ensure construction commences no later than May 1, 2021. The last facility will be handed over to government no later than June 2023,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The 2023 Pacific Games will run from July 17 to 31. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Solomon Islands assured stakeholders in the 2023 Pacific Games that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":326781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1654],"class_list":["post-326788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-pacific-games"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}