Wingti bids farewell to Pora

By YVONNE HAIP

THOUSANDS of people turned up last Saturday at the Tega ceremonial grounds to bid farewell to former Mt Hagen MP Paul Pora, The National reports.

After a funeral service, the late Pora was finally laid to rest at Kum Kona in Dobel where he grew up as a child.

Former prime minister Paias Wingti also attended the burial among family members, friends, the Yamka people, community leaders and business people.

Wingti paid his respects and praised Pora for quality leadership that he had displayed during his reign as a three-term parliamentarian.

Wingti described Pora as an honest and humble leader who came from humble beginnings with a vision to lead with transparency and accountability.

He said today’s leadership was infected with corruption and malpractices.

He said that there were some who were living off government handouts and, due to these bad habits, leaders were travelling around with heavy police escorts unlike in the past.

Wingti said when Pora was finance minister during the height of the Bougainville crisis, he had run the country on a budget of K1.8 billion compared to the current K6 billion.

He said Pora had managed the people’s money well and was a true leader who had the heart for his people.

Wingti added that Pora was a businessman before he entered politics, and did not steal the people’s money.