NSC will inherit and manage all facilities as a key legacy of Sol2023
HONIARA, 16 March, 2022 – The National Hosting Authority (NHA) has extended its arm to support the capacity building of the National Sports Council (NSC) as the main body established by the Solomon Islands Government purposely to support the development of sports in the country. This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the NHA and the NSC on Friday 11th March 2022 which coincided with the official opening of the Solomon Islands National Institute of Sports (SINIS). Signatories to the MoU are the NHA Chairman, Dr Jimmie Rodgers and the NSC Chairman, Mr. Joe Sika. “The MoU allows the NHA to support the NSC which is a national investment and part of the legacy of hosting the 2023 Pacific Games as we are not just about 2023 but also the future of sports in the country,” Dr. Rodgers said.
As such, the NHA is expanding its scope to set in place additional investment to build NSC as a well-resourced and functioning body to be able to take care of the multi-billion dollar facilities Solomon Islands will have as a result of the Games. The National Sports Council (NSC) will inherit and manage all facilities as a key legacy for the 2023 Pacific Games. The NHA Chairman also revealed that the current Government is proposing to establish a Sports House that will accommodate all the National Sport Federations (NSFs) in the country. “The purpose of the proposed Sports House is to accommodate office spaces for sport federations that do not have office spaces and dedicated to the federations. A piece of land at Panatina is the primary target for this investment and the second option is a piece of land Government has taken from NSC. We are looking now at financing this proposed investment,” Dr. Rodgers said. “This MoU has brought us to work closely together to support NSC deliver on its mission,” he added. The NHA Chairman also revealed that they are currently working on a fund to enable NSC to manage the facilities for at least two years after the Games.
“There has been no appreciation of the important of sports at the Government level in the past, and the importance of supporting the institution that was created to develop sports in Solomon Islands.
“The current Government believes in the development of sports and through the NHA we are committed in handing over the facilities to NSC with funds to support the sustainability of these facilities for two years while at the same time we work on strengthening the capacity of NSC going into the future,” the NHA Chairman said.
Meanwhile, the NSC Chairman, Mr. Joe Sika reiterated that since all the facilities for the 2023 Pacific Games will be handed over to the NSC when completed it is necessary for the NSC to prepare now for the takeover. “The MoU with NHA will enable NSC to recruit people to help us prepare for post Pacific Games. We will be looking to recruit a Facilities Manager and a Facilities Director as part of our preparation to take over the facilities. “There will be a Sports Solomon Fund established to help ongoing maintenance of facilities going forward and we will start working on a budget for this purpose. “With the world class facilities we are going to have the NSC will support National Federations to bid for future regional competitions which will bring in needed revenue to sustain support towards sports development in the country moving forward,” Mr. Sika said. NSC recently appointed a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Alison Burchell who has already arrived in the country and have taken up office.
Ms. Burchell is a former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Fiji. SMs Burchell studied Economics and Industrial Sociology at the University of Cape Town and she is a qualified sports professional through Sport Accord (Switzerland) and is a qualified facilitator and/or trainer in conflict resolution through the South African Sports Commission.
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