Founding father of the nation and Governor for East Sepik Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare has expressed great sadness at the passing of Hela Governor late Anderson Agiru last Thursday morning, April 28, 2016.
Sir Michael in a statement said: “I came to know the late Governor Anderson Agiru in 1997 when he first entered parliament and worked closely with him after his re-election in 2007.
“He joined the new generation of leaders that entered politics at the time and was part of my coalition government until 2011.”
Sir Michael said they (Agiru and Sir Michael) worked well together to ensure Hela became a province and prior to that the delivery of the PNG LNG project.
“He thus shall always be remembered for his contributions to Papua New Guinea's newly found economic prosperity and progress through the birth of LNG and the commercialization of our vast gas resource.
Sir Michael further added that late Agiru had inspired a new generation of younger Papua New Guinean leaders to challenge the established norms of complacency and dared to believe that we could in fact compete with the rest of the world to bring about something quite extraordinary and special in a developing economy.
“I saw in Anderson a leader amongst leaders and a visionary well ahead of his time and peers in the context of the extractive industries and natural resource development, coupled with his belief that Papua New Guineans have the capabilities to do it all and achieve the impossible.
“I am especially pleased that the Hela people also saw these qualities and continued to support him as their leader to three parliaments.
“A unique Papua New Guinean and a proud Hela man, Anderson we shall miss you dearly, the country has lost one of its most favoured sons,” Sir Michael said.