Former Sumkar MP and businessman Fairweather passes on

**Politician Ken Fairweather with Megiar Primary School students in Madang’s Sumkar earlier this year. – Nationalpic by GYNNIE KERO**

FORMER Sumkar MP and Madang businessman Ken Fairweather passed away yesterday at the Port Moresby General Hospital.
Hospital chief executive Dr Paki Molumi said Fairweather had been sick for some time now.
“He was at the Pacific International Hospital and transferred to the Port Moresby General Hospital in the early hours of yesterday morning,” he said.
“The hospital did its best, but he sadly passed away at 7am this morning (yesterday).”
Fairweather arrived in Papua New Guinea as a young man from Melbourne in the 1970s.
He was involved in trucking and freight services (Pagini Group Transport and logistics), farming (cocoa) and mining. But he was better known for his time in politics, serving as the Sumkar MP from 2007 to 2012 and 2012 to 2017.
He moved a motion in Parliament in 2016 to legalise prostitution in the country.
His autobiography “Farewell white man” was released on May 17, 2019.
He also served as the chairman of the Manam Restoration Authority and contributed greatly to national development through community-based projects and sports. Prime Minister James Marape yesterday said: “We may all have our views on different people, but some people I appreciate are PNG’s first generation of business people, they were the anchors of our young economy, Ken Fairweather was one of them.”