The new Chief Executive of the 2023 Pacific Games hopes to be on the ground in Honiara within the next month.
2023 Pacific Games CEO Peter Stewart. Photo: Supplied
Peter Stewart was previously CEO of the 2015 Pacific Games in Port Moresby and is currently living in regional Victoria, about two hours south-east of Melbourne.
He's currently finishing work with the LaTrobe City Council but is already meeting regularly with staff in the Pacific Games Office and other stakeholders via Zoom.
"All the planning stages that are going on and developing the structure that needs to be put in place for the Games and ensuring that we have the right governance process in place, all of that can be done just as easily from a home office as being on the ground," he explained.
"Where you miss on the ground is developing those relationships from being able to actually stand with people, talk to people, develop some body language - that's what's really missing at the moment."
Stewart has worked in Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Vanuatu and hopes to make the move to Solomon Islands as soon as possible.
"The sooner the better as far as my wife and I are concerned. We're very keen to get up to Honiara," he said.
"We're hopeful that it will be some time around mid-October, depending on travel restrictions and availability of flights and things like that, but that's sort of the target that we're aiming for at the moment."
Peter Stewart was CEO of the 2015 Pacific Games in Port Moresby. Photo: RNZI / Vinnie Wylie
He has over 30 years experience working on major events around the world, including Pacific, Commonwealth and Olympics Games, and said Covid has changed everything.
"The big issue is that nobody can afford to be complacent, I think, with this disease. While Solomon Islands doesn't have any real issue at the moment we've got to remain vigilant."
Photo: Sol2023 XVII Pacific Games
The Games Organising Committee currently employs five senior officials, but will eventually grow to over 300 staff and 2,500 volunteers.
"The biggest issue with any Games is managing the growth of the Organising Committee," Stewart said.
"Because the organisation goes from not existing to being quite a large company within the country in a very short period of time.
"If you have a look at a private business that grows at the rate of an organising committee in the same sort of period, they would normally go broke because of the pressures of managing growth."
Chinese contractors began construction of the new Solomon Islands national stadium in May, while Indonesia has been building a new multi-purpose hall since December last year.
The start date for the Pacific Games was delayed by four months because of the Covid-19 pandemic but Stewart was confident that construction remained on track.
"I've certainly had a number of briefings from people who have been on the ground for quite a while and everybody assures me that progress is going very well," he said.
"I obviously haven't seen it myself but I have no reason to believe that there's any issues in relation to having the venues on time. The question always arises 'will the venues be ready on time' and I've never, not yet, seen them available and ready to use for the Games."