Farewell feast for new Hela CEO

 By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK

THE Port Moresby Hela community turned out in droves to a farewell feast for the Hela Transition Authority (HTA) chief executive officer William Bando at Gerehu last Saturday.

They killed 20 pigs, 100 chickens with Koroba-Lake Kopiago MP John Kekeno donating a cow.

Bando and his family will be leaving Port Moresby to reside in Tari to oversee the development of the Hela province as it separates from Southern Highlands. 

Bando urged Hela people who were idling in urban centres throughout the country to return to Hela region to develop the newly created province.

Bando was the former director corporate service with Tourism Promotion Authority for eight years before becoming HTA’s CEO and interim administrator.

He told the Hela community that he alone woud not develop Hela but needed assistance from Hela MPs, leaders and the rest of the Hela people. 

“The road ahead is bumpy and I can feel the intensity of the weight of the 350,000 Hela people on my shoulders. But someone has to do it and I have put my hands up to do the job,” he said.