OFC President David Chung and Senior Vice President Martin Alufurai presented the cheque to Papua New Guinea Football Association (PNGFA) Vice President John Kapi Natto and General Secretary Dimirit Mileng at OFC headquarters in Auckland on Friday during a workshop that gathered representatives from the confederation’s 11 member associations.
President Chung, who is also the PNGFA President and has therefore been deeply saddened by the disaster, is pleased to be able to offer a helping hand to those affected by the ferry sinking.
“This is part of OFC’s Football for Life programme that supports humanitarian causes and social development across the Pacific,” he says.
“We are pleased to contribute to the relief effort and hope the assistance will be of great benefit to the people of Papua New Guinea as they look to recover from this tragedy.”
Kapi Natto is delighted to have received the donation and says the PNGFA will direct the funds immediately to where they are most needed.
“We will write a cheque out to the humanitarian organisations taking care of this disaster and officially do a presentation next week,” he says.
“We are very grateful with what OFC is doing for the people of Papua New Guinea and they have helped in so many ways in times of need in other countries, such as most recently in Christchurch after the earthquakes. I am very happy about the donation and I am sure the football family in Papua New Guinea will be very pleased to hear the news of OFC’s generosity.”
The MV Rabaul Queen ferry was carrying 360 passengers and 12 crew when it went down in the early hours of February 2 off the coast of Lae.
The number of survivors stands at 246 and only five bodies have been found. But the rescue operation has been scaled back in recent days and more than 100 people are now assumed to have drowned.
“It is not just in the area of football that we are looking to build relationships and make a positive difference,” Kapi Natto says. “We are also looking to enrich the lives of people in our communities and gestures like this go a long way towards doing that.”
The OFC Football for Life initiative was launched in 2007 to help the victims of a devastating tsunami that hit the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. In 2008, OFC partnered with UNAIDS to organise and promote ‘Stop HIV Day’.
The impact of Football for Life continued in 2010 with the donation of $25,000 NZD to the New Zealand Football Christchurch Earthquake Appeal. The funds were put towards the recovery and development of the world game in a region that has been hit hard by a series of earthquakes since a devastating tremor struck last February.
Football for Life has also made an impact at a grassroots level by helping to fund equipment bags that are being distributed to primary schools across the region. The packs, which include balls, cones, bibs and other resources, are part of the OFC ‘Just Play’ programme that promotes physical activity for kids aged six to 13 and encourages community involvement.
OFC wishes for the latest Football for Life grant to provide valuable assistance as those affected by the ferry disaster in Papua New Guinea attempt to rebuild their lives.