Pacific Games Council & TASANOC sue Tonga for millions over Games withdrawal Featured
Tonga's PM, 'Akilisi Pohiva, (wearing a jacket), meeting with the Pacific Games Council in 2015. Photo: Supplied/Pacific Games Council
23 May, 2018. The Pacific Games Council and Tonga's Olympic Committee (TASANOC) have lodged a claim for millions of dollars of damages against the government for its late withdrawal from hosting the 2019 event.
The government pulled out of their hosting agreement last year, citing financial difficulties.
The Supreme Court has issued a writ which the government has 28 days from issuance, (15 May), to answer.
Games Council chief executive Andrew Minogue said the council was seeking damages for the losses that it suffered as a result of the unilateral decision to withdraw without consultation.
TASANOC is seeking the same.
Mr Minogue said the claim was for three parts of the damages that were being sought.
"The first is unpaid fees that were due to us over that four year period, that were owing to us that we obviously now won't receive from Tonga; the cost of finding an alternative host, which was a process that we were forced to go through in the second part of last year," he said.
"Travelling around to the various locations, putting documents together and so forth, were costs we didn't expect to have to face and also supporting the new host who has to now organise the Games at very short notice," Mr Minogue said.
"And the third component to the damages is simply the brand damage. The brand damage in the market place with commercial sponsors and partners, seeing that we have had a Games had to be moved in this way with no real consultation and cooperation about it. That is actually a real cost to us in the long term and to our brand."
Mr Minogue would not confirm an amount the total claim was for, but said reports of more than $US3 million were "in the ballpark", if both the council and TASANOC claims were combined.
He said Tonga's belated withdrawal from hosting the 2019 Games could prove costly to the kingdom in other ways too.
Mr Minogue said the saga had hurt reputations.
"I think it's cost the country in terms of its reputation and the damage to its brand as a reliable partner for other events and things that they may wish to do in the future so I think it has been a very costly exercise for everybody," he said.
Mr Minogue said the legal action was unfortunate but the Tongan government only had itself to blame.
He said the council had tried to work with the government to address their concerns.
"We wanted an opportunity to sit down with the government and work through whatever cost or financial issues they might of had," Mr Minogue said.
"As the owners of the event we have got the ability to scale it down, reduce the size of it, possibly cutting some sports or limiting the entries by athletes.
"[There] are all sort of methods we could have employed to keep the costs down and to keep the Games in Tonga where they should have been."
-RNZI
3 comments
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Kuo ta'ofi e Sipoti kae afe pea oku tonu ke ta'ofi ai moe tanaki pa'anga koai ne fai mei he seniti a e kainga Tonga I muli ki si'onau ngaahi famili he na'e 'ikai kau ha langa paaka mo ha mala'e tapulu ai.
Na'e fai e 'amanaki ki ha lelei ange 'a e ngaahi service a e Pule'anga pea mo ha si'isi'i o e faihala he hu hake 'a e Taki ko'eni ka ko'eni kuo mahino mai oku ikai ha'ane visone ma'ae fonua pea toe lahi ange mo hono tuku e lao ki he tafa'aki kae fai hono poto pea ko'eni kuo sio kiai e fonua.
Oku 'ikai ha'ane taukei 'e taha ki hano fakalele ha fonua ngata hono ta'aki e fai hala pea ko'eni kuo ne loto mamahi ki he kau ngaue fakapule'anga oku nau tuku atu ha ngaahi fakamatala fekau'aki moe ngaue pango a e Puleanga.
Totongi a e Sipoti a Haamoa ki he ta'u fo'ou. Malie PATOA -
Two issues brought by the PCG to the table if Tonga still refuse to host the game. First , is the cost for the damaging of the contract (as we are seeing that right now) and secondly, Tonga will still have to fund the game. SAMOA , the new host country still have to add on their cost to this fiasco. Not to mention the Lawyer's fee is a must to pay regardless!!!!!
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Regardless of the circumstances leading to the cancellation by Tonga to host the Pacific GAMES 2019 , the damage is done .One can only speculate , how on earth did the Premier in his wisdom managed to get his government in to this predicament is beyond comprehension.This is a sure indication of this governments lack of foresight and ability to find solution to problems facing the country.One might wonder how did it get to this stage .According to the Games Council Chief executive Andrew Minogue they were willing to tone down all expenses so Tonga can still host the 2019 games.What reason did the government have for refusing ?. Now Tonga is facing a fine of $US 3 million to payback to both the council and TASANOC for breach of contract. Wouldn't it be better if Tonga went ahead with the games irrespective of the odds of whether she will make a profit or not, but at least she won't be in the situation shes in now. But to bring us back to the reason , why the Premier decided mid year to cancel the games ?, was it because of some personal issue between him and the previous government, because it was the previous government that agreed to host the PACIFIC GAMES in Tonga , but they were ousted from power, and his party under his leadership took over and this is the result. Tonga ! look around you look at how ineffectual this government has been, look at the mess the country's in, look for any improvement in the day to day running of government anything worthwhile that they've achieved since taking office nothing ! 'cause they are too busy witch hunting , to concentrate on governing the country and doing it for the benefit of all .. Something must be done by someone in power to curb the debt this country is drowning in , Tonga is floundering about in unpaid loans STOP LOOK WALK ?.