Staff of the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) has joined the parade and official launching of the ‘Safe and Green Games SOLPG23’ today (Friday 3rd March 2023).
The program kicked off with a parade involving three different locations which are from SMI for Westside group, Honiara City Council (HCC) carpark for Central group and SINU Panatina Campus for East-side group to Lawson Tama Stadium for the official program.
It was an eventful procession as participating groups including MRD took the main highways to the Lawson Tama Stadium in their outstanding green outfits, banners and posters with the catchphrase “SAFE AND GREEN GAMES, Solomon Is Safe and Green.”
The participants include Government Ministers, Members of the National Parliament (MPs), Office of the Parliamentary Opposition, Solomon Islands Government Ministries Officials, Government Constitutional Institutions, Faith-based Organisations, SOEs, NGOs, Wards in Honiara, Honiara Schools, Diplomatic Corps and other Civil Societies Groups and the general public.
The main highlight of the program was the speech from the Honiara City Mayor and Councillor (Cr) Eddie Siapu and the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands Honourable Manasseh Sogavare.
City Mayor Siapu in his speech said, “Today marks a very important history for the Solomon Islands, as we prepare ahead for the first-ever hosting of the Pacific Games in November this year 2023.”
He further stated that keeping our city safe and green is paramount with the support of the citizens.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare bluntly put it that Honiara was regarded as one of the dirtiest cities in the pacific region with rubbish and betel nut stains everywhere.
He challenged everyone who were in attendance that this is not the image of our country we wish our visitors to take back with them when they depart from our shores after the 2023 Pacific Games.
“Instead we want each of our visitors to have a pleasant and memorable experience of our country and our capital city from the moment they step off their flights on their arrival until the moment they board their flights to take them home,” PM Sogavare resonated.
To achieve this PM Sogavare said we must work together in the next 262 days to ensure our city is safe, our city is green and our city is clean.
Meanwhile, the Senior Management Team of MRD thanked all the staff for their time and cooperation to attend this inaugural launching of the Safe, Green Games program.
The program will continue tomorrow (Saturday) with a clean-up campaign in which MRD Staff will also take part.
– MRD
