Commission staff farewell Simet

STAFF of the National Cultural Commission and Institute of PNG Studies shed tears as Dr Jacob Simet spoke to them for the last time as their boss on Tuesday.
They did not hold back their emotions for the acting executive director, a fatherly figure to most of them during his 23-year tenure with the NCC.
In a small but significant ceremony, the staff, incoming acting executive director Casper Damien and Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry officers farewelled Simet, who had been director as well.
The commission is the brainchild of Simet.
He was called back from Hawaii to head the organisation after he was tasked to put together the “off-cuts”, as described by Simet, in 1993 after the Tourism Development Council was abolished and the Tourism Promotion Authority created.
Simet outlined the commission’s history and some of the difficulties it had encountered over the years.
He thanked the staff for their support and urged them to give Damien the same level of respect and cooperation they had accorded him during his tenure.
Damien said he would seek Simet’s advice because he had vast experience in the field.
He said he would continue where Simet left off but would try to take the commission to another level.