Director for Culture in the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Dennis Marita has denied claims certain members of the contingent to the 12th Festival of Pacific Arts in Guam misbehaved during the event.
Members of the contingent told the Sunday Star some men in the delegation who were drunk acted disorderly and were removed by securities from restricted areas.
“These men caused embarrassment to those of us watching one of the shows,” one member of the contingent said.
“They were an annoyance, randomly interfering with other people going about their business in the festival venue,” he added.
But Marita said he was not aware of any misbehaving members of the contingent during the festival.
“What I know is at such gatherings, we expect people to enjoy their time with other Pacific friends,” he said.
“But for any incident of bad behaviour while under influence of alcohol that did not happen and we never see any interference by the police there to arrest any member of the Solomon contingent,” he added.
“There might be some minor incidences during the festival, however, we did not see any serious problem that may portray a bad image on Solomon Islands.”
Marita said to prove that, they left the school compound where they were accommodated with sincere appreciation from the people there, who thanked them for leaving the school premises without any damages to the property.
By AATAI JOHN
