SAMOA: Food and media problems at South Pacific Games
Updated
Reports of a diarrhoea scare among athletes at the South Pacific Games in Samoa have put a bit of a dampener on the first days of competition. The athletes are having their meals at special dining centres with the food being prepared by local catering companies and coordinated by Games organiseers. News of the scare has been reported in Samoa and across the region but that's not the only bad press the Games had to deal with. Some of the international media aren't impressed with their lot as well.
Presenter: Clement Paligaru
Speakers: Rosemary Esara, Catering Manager for South Pacific Games and a member of the Organising Committee; Elma Maua, Sports Editor of Radio New Zealand International
PALIGARU: Samoans take a lot of pride in their hospitality and if there's one way they love to express their welcome it's got to be through food. But when news started getting out in local and regional media about food poisoning there was no doubt it was going to be a shaky start to the Games.
The Games "first casualty" is how one radio station here described it, and that's when a Fiji athlete was put on drip at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole hospital. Fiji's Chef de Mission, Patrick Bower dismissed reports of the diarrhoea scare saying that the athlete only needed a little bit of rehydration. But down town some other Fiji athletes which didn't want to speak on mike to Pacific Beat confirmed there were diarrhoea cases on their team. There's also anecdotal reports of stomach upsets in the Cook Islands team. I put these concerns to Rosemary Esara, Catering Manager for the South Pacific Games and a member of the organising committee here.
ESARA: Well of course there will always be this issue of food poisoning at any major games that happen. It think it's one area that is always one of the first problem areas that arise. But in terms of what we Samoa, the organising committee are doing is that regardless whether it's true or not we do have food safety measures in place.
PALIGARU: After the first reports of poisoning came out what did you do? Did you change the way you did anything in these dining centres?
ESARA: It was too early. To be honest I don't think there was a need to change because we hadn't confirmed the reports. This was all hearsay, there was really no official documentation. What we did do was that we asked the house to go straight away to the site and for them to do some random visits at different times of the day, but since we've got these reports we have stepped it up a bit more and been monitoring it more closely than what we did before.
PALIGARU: Are you using the simple things like gloves and you've got guidelines for washing your hands for the people who are preparing these foods?
ESARA: Yes we have hair nets for all staff, we have gloves, we have allocation in the kitchen for raw food and for cooked food. We have also ensured because of the Pacific there are a lot of flies, we've ensured that each area of the kitchen has zappers. It's very hot so the expense of having air conditioning for the sake of the Games was a small cost compared to the other priority areas that we had. So we've just put in ceiling fans to accommodate for that, and sometimes we may need to have the windows open so we have screened all the windows. So I think that's the best that we've done for the moment. But I must make a point there, the caterers, I must commend the caterers that they have been able to mobilise in such a short time.
PALIGARU: And you don't feel that they've been overwhelmed by the magnitude of this whole event and the task at hand?
ESARA: Oh definitely they are, I mean this is the first sort of event that we've had in Samoa. I can't say things have been going smoothly and I don't think they should be. Every day there are new issues, there are new challenges that arise and through those challenges we just improve, and we can only get better, I don't think you can get any worse.
PALIGARU: Rosemary Esara, Catering Manager for the South Pacific Games and a member of the organising committee of the Samoa South Pacific Games. But it's not just visiting athletes who have an issue with food, there's quite a media back here from overseas reporting on things like the diarrhoea scare and trying to get results and reports of competition out. But the broadcasters in particular are already venting frustration with facilities and surprise, surprise, water and snacks is another source of complaint.
Elma Maua from Radio New Zealand International:
MAUA: I think the grip now is that the media really are working hard here to promote a positive outlook on Samoa. They're not being well looked after, we've had the shambles of media not being able to get their accreditation at the beginning. Two Fiji journalists were not allowed in to watch their Fiji team because their accreditation was not ready. Now they've had five years to prepare for these Games and still the facilities for the media around every venue and there's quite a few, is not ready. So all we're asking is the results to be brought into one spot or distributed around to the different venues so we can have a one-stop shop basically so that we can do that, and a little bit of water would help as well.
PALIGARU: Have you put it to the people organising media and communications here and what's been the response?
MAUA: I think if I keep talking I will be deported by the end of the week, so yes there have been grumbles. We haven't talked to the top people but I think if it does continue we will be looking to the SPG council.
