NSC working with NHA for transfer of all 11 facilities

The National Sports Council is working with the National Hosting Authority for the transfer of all 11 national sports facilities and associated assets for them to manage before the end of March.

“We are excited to work with the National Hosting Authority to finalise the transfer of all 11 national sports facilities and associated assets for us to manage as soon as possible,” said the chairman of NSC Joe Sika.

Sika in a statement said the NSC wants to open the facilities for public use and for the use of our national federations and community organisations.

“This will bring to fruition the promises of the Honourable Prime Minister in speeches and in Parliament that all the sports facilities will be transferred to the NSC to manage on behalf of the Government. That time is now! In the meantime, we are working to ensure that everything and everyone is in place for us to open up to the public as soon as possible,” Sika said.

He added public safety is their paramount concern at all times.

“We also want the facilities to be in pristine condition, remaining the pride and joy of our nation. We have been gifted the majority of these facilities by the people and Government of the People’s Republic of China and it is now our responsibility to ensure that they are available for generations to come. We applaud our friends from China for their generosity and vision,” he said.

Sika stated that the mandate of the NSC is to develop sport and recreation across the country.

“We will soon release our strategic intent which sets out our plans from now till 2035. We have a long-term vision. We look forward to working with our partners in the government, National Olympic Committee of Solomon Islands, our national sports federations, our private sector, our provinces, our churches, NGO and development partners to walk the talk,” said the chairman.

He said the health and wellbeing of each and every one of “us is important as we join forces to fight the scourge of non-communicable diseases using physical activity as part of our defence.”

“Governance is high on our agenda and we will be working closely with our national federations to improve governance, transparency and accountability across the board. This will instil confidence in our sports community and, as importantly, in the private sector, Government and international sport to invest in sport more consistently. This is key to our ability to spread sport and recreation across the country. We have many exciting activities on our agenda including support to SIFF to host 5 international events during the year and Solomon Islands Taekwondo to host their Oceania Olympic Qualification event in April 2024. We are also supporting Solomon Islands Basketball to present a bid to host the FIBA Oceania Melanesian Basketball Championships in 2025 using our newly acquired wooden floor.”

Sika continued: “We know our facilities can accommodate these events and with the experience of organising the Pacific Games, we know our people can host these events. Through this, we want to encourage our next generation athletes to try these and other sports, more coaches to get involved, administrators to manage sport across the country and technical officials to guide the athletes. This is the development we want to see and which our youth want to experience. Once we finalise the details with the NHA on the transfer and opening of the facilities, we will make the necessary public announcements. We look forward to welcoming you to your Sports City to play, enjoy and develop.”