By MATTHEW VARI
WITH the status and the popularity of the PNG Games growing immensely in the country- Eastern Highlands Governor Julie Soso has questioned the selection process in which the province set to host the next games, West New Britain, had come about.
She raised the issue in parliament during question time on Thursday’s Parliament session, about the cycle in which regions were to host the games, considering the cycle was now ending with Morobe for the Momase Region.
Governor Soso pointed out that the PNG Games started in Eastern Highlands Province Goroka as a Grassroots Games- from eastern highlands it came to Port Moresby for the Southern Region, from which it went over to Kokopo for the NGI region for its final point where it has arrived to Morobe in Lae at the moment.
She asked that since the next region to host is the highlands region- what criterion was being used.
Her query got a response from the 2016 host, West New Britain, with its Governor Sasindran Muthuvel raisng a point of order that his province had gone through the proper bidding process to host the premier sporting event in the country.
“There is an ordered process and procedure, it has to be bid through the PNG Games council and West New Britain successfully bid for it and we paid K10,000 for our bidding price and we won it,” Muthuvel said.
Supporting the WNB Governor’s comments, Sports Minister Justin Tkatchenko explained to Governor Soso that the bidding process was the way in which selections were now to be made for host provinces.
“The governor (Muthuvel) is correct when he says that, the PNG games council is a separate body where me as Minister I have no influence over at all,” Minister Tkatchenko said.
“For the PNG Games council they have their own criteria and own body, as a non- governmental organization that runs the games without any political interference whatsoever.”
“It was advertised a couple of months back for any interested provinces to pay to host the next games, which has been approved by the council and that is Kimbe in West New Britain.”
He encouraged the Governor for Eastern Highlands to apply to the PNG Games council for her province to host the next PNG Games.
“It is a very open process and you have to show the criteria that you will take the games to the next level,” Tkatchenko explained.
“This is why we need to look which provinces are able to host the games as it is a very expensive exercise for provincial governments, especially those that do not have the facilities to host it.”
“We have to look at a regional situation where Eastern Highlands for Highlands with its sports institute, and Kokopo with facilities, NCD, Morobe- we have to look at a more practical situation for everybody in the long term.”
He concluded that a review will be made upon the conclusion of after this year’s PNG Games, held in Lae.
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