From Tonga's 13 to P-NG's 234

the Games go with a bang

By KEN McGREGOR in Port Moresby

New Guinea did it and did it well. The third South Pacific Games many said couldn’t be pulled off by planners without major clangers, went off with almost clockwork precision.

There were mistakes, the worst being the gatekeeping arrangements at the Games opening ceremony at the Konedobu Main Arena.

But overall, visitors went home satisfied NG had handled the Games efficiently. They also noted the small amount of money involved to stage the Games, compared with the big sums France spent on the 1966 Noumea Games.

Visitors to both Games said the food and accommodation at Moresby was much better than provided at Noumea.

Weather was better. Noumea was wet, Moresby was dry and windy.

But the Noumea running track was of international standard and fast; Moresby’s track is new and slow.

Team managers said sports facilities were generally top-class in Moresby.

The Hohola basketball courts, the Boroko Olympic swim pool and the Murray Barracks weightlifting setups all impressed.

They would have preferred a better soccer field, indoor volleyball courts, superior tennis courts and better organised umpiring at table tennis matches.

15 Venues

However, visitors were quick to agree the 1,000-odd officials and organisers from Moresby and Aus tralia had done well. Fifteen different sports had been arranged at 15 widely-scattered venues in and around the town over nine days of compe tition.

With the two villages well outside Moresby proper—on Racecourse Road at the Teachers’ Training College and the Administrative Staff Centre — the biggest job was getting the 1,300 visitors to and from places.

At organising headquarters, Public Works Department, Racecourse Road, a pool of trucks and lorries was on hand day and night. Arrangements were first for drivers to go auto matically to pick up a team. This, however, led to some confusion.

The subsequent drill was then for team managers to ring for a truck when required. This schedule worked

for all teams except the Solomons, who said their players were continu ally kept waiting for periods of up to two hours.

Islanders themselves mostly over came their distance from the bright lights. Alone, in pairs and in groups of four they were a common sight around the town —hitching. Local motorists took the hint and it was never too long a wait, especially for the girls from French Polynesia and Guam.

Shy visitors

Other shyer visitors such as the Solomon Islanders and the New Hebrideans didn’t take to the road like their French cousins and many were stuck in the villages or restricted to team trips. They didn’t see as much as they had hoped.

Nevertheless, the Gaines was a great mixing of the Pacific. The Teachers’ College village had a dis tinct French flavour. The big teams from New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, French Polynesia and the New Hebrides were there and con versation in English in either the new dining or recreation halls was rare.

Visitors brought more guitars, ukeleles and colourful clothes than sporting gear. Coke machines were run dry many times and it was un usual when an Elvis Presley record wasn’t erupting from record players day or night.

At the Administrative village, Fijians, Samoans and Nauruans matched the French, guitar for guitar.

If there was anything in it, this camp was noisier. Visitors were housed in new two or four bed room units or comfortable dormitories, and im-

A garden party for the Duke and Duchess of Kent at Government House was Moresby's biggest social night of the year. Those who received invitations dressed up and turned up without fail, others not so lucky considered themselves snubbed. A couple of gate crashers made it also. Here, MHA for the South Fly, Mr. Ebia Olewale, and his wife, meet an attractive Duchess, who had won not a few wolf whistles from the 15,000 crowd at the opening ceremony earlier in the day.

promptu singsings, grog sessions and parties were the order of the day.

The Games visitors were not in terested in developments in Bougain ville, another part of New Guinea, where riot police were called out in a land dispute. They were interested in Port Moresby’s size and in its affluence. They bought big quantities of native artefacts.

The town did not attract the num ber of visitors that had been expected by organisers. Temporary shelters built for native visitors weren’t needed, and there was actually hotel accom modation in the town at short notice.

There was little billeting in private homes.

No complaints of trouble were re ported, although Guam competitors were warned by their delegation head, Mr. Joe Paulino, not to argue and “go away quietly” after some anti- American feeling was voiced by a few from British territories early on.

One Nauruan long distance runner who walked outside the limits of his village was involved in a scuffle with

a couple of local Papuans. Friends said the fight had something to do with a girl; no one was injured and police were not informed.

With big numbers of staff off help ing the Games, many Moresby firms and government departments went short at Games time. Administration and business feeling was that time off would be exploited by many not really needed for the Games—and most of the Games’ helpers weren’t paid full

time when off or they were docked similar periods from their leave.

Games venues bristled with officials in white, and most events went off on time. Daily Games programmes and previous day’s results (not always complete) were on sale in the morn ings and the local Press and radio gave the Games a wide coverage.

Officials badly miscalculated outer gatekeeping facilities for the opening Games ceremony, attended by the Duke and very attractive Duchess of Kent. With just a few minutes to go before the opening at the Konedobu Arena, nearly 5,000 Papuans were waiting outside the tiny turnstiles in a half-mile queue.

Lost money

In order not to let the locals miss out, gatekeepers opened the stadium gates and those outside rushed in free. Over $l,OOO in badly-needed funds was lost.

Financially, the Games Trust made a $250,000 deficit. About $50,0000.

• This was the scene at the main arena at the opening of the South Pacific Games, Port Moresby, in August.

More than 1,000 competitors took part in the Games. When this picture was taken there were more than 15,000 inside and outside the grounds, by the side of Fairfax Harbour, at left. Among the trees in the distance can be seen the buildings that make up Kone dobu, administrative headquarters for Papua-New Guinea. Most of the land in this picture has been reclaimed from the sea in recent years.