Jayapura, Jubi – The Indonesian National Sports Committee (KONI) of Papua Province wishes to turn Papua a Melanesian Sports Center, therefore exploring cooperation with neighboring countries in the Pacific Region.
General Secretary of KONI Papua George Weyasu said the idea was to utilize international standard venues previously built for the National Sports Week (PON) XX.
He added that representatives of Pacific countries will visit KONI Papua in March.
KONI Papua wants to introduce Papua’s international standard venues and show the progress of sports facilities in Papua.
“In March we will have a guest and we will introduce to them our venue facilities. The guests come from the Pacific, namely from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, and Vanuatu. Later, there will also be representatives from New Zealand and Australia,” George Weyasu told sports journalists at the KONI Papua Office recently.
Weyasu also revealed that KONI Papua would explore Pacific countries to pioneer international scale events or championships.
“For example, what if we hold the Melanesian Solidarity Games here? They already have the Pacific Games and Papua are also invited,” he said.
Meanwhile, the regional sports celebration or the Papua Provincial Sports Week (Porprov) may be canceled this year as KONI Papua has yet to receive a grant from the Papua Provincial Government.
Weyasu admitted that his party still depends on the provincial government to carry out athlete development programs including holding the regional sports celebration.
“Possibly we cannot do Porprov this year because until today we have not received an answer from the Papua Provincial Government,” he said. (*)
