Last October the Solomon Islands and China officially sign an agreement to build the 2023 Pacific Games venues.
The implementation agreement between the two countries paved the way for construction to begin on venues and facilities for the 2023 Pacific Games.
The venues were said to include a new $53 million (£40 million/€45 million) 10,000-capacity National Stadium, with 1,000 VIP seats, and six other building facilities.
A six-court tennis facility was also promised as another landmark project.
It was mentioned in October last year that the preparations for the 2023 Pacific Games, along with other infrastructure projects, would inject nearly $8 billion (£6 billion/€7 million) in new investments into the Solomon Islands over a four year period.
A 17-member Chinese technical team who had been working on the project subsequently travelled to Honiara after originally having been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
At the signing of the agreement, Prime Minister Sogavare told the media, quote.
“The project, which comprises seven separate infrastructure facilities, "is one of the largest infrastructure projects, funded and built by the People’s Republic of China in any of PRC’s partner Pacific Island countries".
He added: "For this gift, I convey my sincere gratitude to the President, the Government and the people of the People’s Republic of China."
End of quote.
The Chinese Ambassador to the Solomon Island, H.E. Li Ming, who had witnessed the agreement signing, said, quote,
"The Stadium will have the most modern facilities ever seen in the Pacific,"
"It will be a national pride for Solomon Islands and China is proud to be part of it."
Comment
Construction is expected to officially begin in May this year.
The Chinese have set themselves a 24-month deadline for completing the project.
The Solomon Islands’ Pacific neighbour Papua New Guinea has also committed about $12 million (£9 million/€10 million) to infrastructure for the event.
The United Arab Emirates, as reported last October, were widely expected to fund the aquatic centre and the Indonesian state-owned construction enterprise PT Wijaya Karya - WIKA - officially last year signed a contract to build a multi-purpose sports complex estimated to cost $7.5 million (£5.8 million/€6.4 million), catering for futsal, basketball and volleyball.
The Pacific Games, PM Sogavare promised, would be a "Pacific sports extravaganza", are scheduled to open in Honiara on July 14 in 2023.
Today, it is reported that the Solomon Islands-based Chinese Construction Company, the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation [CCECC] has been awarded the contract to build the seven China Funded facilities for the 2023 Pacific Games
The People’s Republic of China Ambassador to the Solomon Islands, His Excellency Li Ming made the announcement yesterday, Wednesday, during a press conference at the Prime Minister’s Office in Honiara.
It might be recalled In March of 2017, the Solomon Islands Parliament did the groundwork for the Games by passing a legal framework enabling the country to host the 2023 Pacific Games.
Speaking to the legislation, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Manasseh Maelanga said that the hosting of the Pacific Games would support the goals of ‘economic development and nation-building.’
In this way, MP Maelanga situated the Solomon Islands’ strategy within the then recent trend whereby peripheral and emerging countries, particularly in the global South, were intent on pursuing the hosting of major sports events as part of their development strategies and policies.
One commentator at the time wrote that the Solomon Islands’ efforts suggested that even relatively small events like the Pacific Games, while clearly on a different scale from sports mega-events like the Olympic Games or the FIFA World Cup, were connected to development strategies and policies.
With the Solomon Islands hosting the Pacific Games, some significant benefits will accrue. For example, hosting the Games will improve the nation’s international prestige, while securing its place within the global community. In this sense, hosting will yield some positive effects in terms of soft power; “If a nation cannot compete economically or militarily, building a reputation through sport often offers an attractive alternative”, another commentator has said.
The same commentator said, “Hosting events also has benefits in terms of infrastructure. It is common for government funding to ‘open up’ after a Games have been awarded, in order to build new facilities – both sporting and otherwise – and to facilitate tourism. In turn, hosting events can have a positive impact on a nation’s elite sport system, especially as the host country channels resources towards its athletes to ensure they perform well at home and avoid embarrassment.”
The Solomon Islands Government is wished success in providing the vital infrastructure for the Games, with successfully holding the event and, hopefully, ensuring more facilities beneficial for the people after the Games conclude.
I have very much in mind social services and particularly the pressing needs of the health services, including major improvements needed for the National Referral Hospital (NRH).
It has been my experience in other countries where national sporting events have been staged that economic activity that flowed after the events was placed within the private sector and not into public funds.
Let us hope that will not be the case in the Solomon Islands and funds will be available to turn the health sector around in short time after 2023. Perhaps, the successful hosting of the Pacific Games will induce one or more of the Solomon Island’s diplomatic partners to aid the health sector reform that is so evidently needed today.
