PNG: Festival organisers chastised

Papua New Guinea’s sports and events minister says the nation’s Cultural Commission is a national embarrassment and needs a total revamp.

The Cultural Commission is responsible for organising the Melanesian Arts and Cultural Festival and government minister, Justin Tkatchenko, has slammed the festival saying it is “disorganised and an embarrassment”.

The two-week festival kicked off on Sunday and Tkatchenko says a number of events were poorly advertised.

“The Cultural Commission, which came under the Ministry of Tourism, were warned by our prime minister, by myself as the event minister, about the seriousness of ensuring that this particular event is a success,” Tkatchenko told the ABC.

“Especially, as we are classed as one of the ‘big daddies’ in the Pacific and we need to show that we can be organised and show that we can get these events right.”

The Melanesian festival is held every four years and was initiated in 1998 by the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

Tkatchenko says the Cultural Commission’s functions were marred by a lack of organisation and co-ordination with some invitations going out just three hours before the actual events.

He says Prime Minister Peter O’Neill was especially mortified by the lack of attendance at some of the events.

“It was a big embarrassment for him, not only as a prime minister and us as a government, but also for our neighbours in the Pacific that came to actually show their cultural contribution to us in Papua New Guinea,” he said.

Tkatchenko says the Cultural Commission needs to throw the deadwood out.

“They need to be young, talented, educated, artistic Papua New Guineans who will lead the commission to modernise and change it for the better,” he said.

“It is a long time coming and I am sure most people agree with me that it needs to happen.”

Tkatchenko says Papua New Guineans have some of the most unique culture and tradition in the world.

He believes the festival as a tourism opportunity for Papua New Guinea is being wasted.

However, he says the upcoming Pacific Games won’t be marred by similar issues.

“We have got an A-team there that is working around the clock making sure that we will be ready for 2015, July 4,” Tkatchenko said.

“And we will have the best games that the Pacific has ever seen.”