Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Indonesia began construction of a sports complex in the Solomon Islands’ capital city of Honiara, which was marked by the groundbreaking on Monday.

The 5,800 square meter complex is a grant from the Indonesian government, and will be used in the 2023 Pacific Games.

The groundbreaking ceremony was witnessed by the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavare, who believed that the construction of the project will continue to strengthen people-to-people contact between the two countries.

"We would like to thank our brothers from Indonesia for their commitment and enthusiasm, so that even in the midst of the pandemic, we can complete all the planning and basic works of this project, making the construction can be implemented immediately," PM Sogavare said.

Meanwhile, the Director General of Information and Public Diplomacy at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Teuku Faizasyah, expected that the project would run smoothly in the midst of the pandemic.

“Indonesia will fulfill its commitment to continue supporting our brothers and sisters in the Pacific. Indonesia will be present at the 2023 Pacific Games,” he said.

The commitment to build the grant project worth some 7.9 million U.S. dollars was signed on the sidelines of the 12th Bali Democracy Forum in 2019.

The construction is carried out by Indonesian state-owned enterprise WIKA (Wijaya Karya), which was officially appointed by the Solomon Islands government based on the company’s experience in building the 2018 Asian Games facilities in Indonesia.

Reporting by Indonesia Window