Kokopo mourns

By ISAAC NICHOLAS

PEOPLE of Kokopo are mourning the death of their member of parliament, Patrick Tammur, who passed away at his home early yesterday morning.During the 2007 election, Tammur won the Kokopo seat after defeating Sir Rabbie Namaliu.Born on March 9, 1969, he was brought up with politics in his blood and followed the footsteps of his late father Oscar Tammur.He was minister for communication and information in the Somare government until it was ousted by Peter O’Neill’s group on Aug 2 last year.In 2010, Tammur was diagnosed with diabetes in one of his legs. He went overseas to have the leg amputated.But the disease had spread to the other leg and he was to travel overseas today to have further operation.He is survived by wife Salome and children Oscar, Sophia and Theresa.Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare in a media statement expressed sadness over Tammur’s passing."On behalf of my wife Lady Veronica and my family, I wish to express our sincere sympathies to Salome and daughters Sophia and Theresa and only son Oscar for the loss of your husband and father."I also convey my condolences to the people of Kokopo for the loss of their parliamentary representative."After winning the Kokopo seat as an independent candidate in the 2007 general election, the late Tammur joined me as a member of my National Alliance party. He served in my government as the minister for communication and information until recently due to illness."I thank the Tammur family and the people of Kokopo for the contributions of your elected representative to the work of nation building in our country,"
Sir Michael said.East New Britain Governor Leo Dion also expressed his condolences."It is really a sad and sorrowful occasion for us in East New Britain as the late Tammur would be the third serving MP from the province to have died while holding office."He said Mathias Toliman died in the early years of self-government while serving as the opposition leader. Pomio MP Alois Koki died in 1999."If politics can separate us and our families, culturally and religiously we are one family and occasions such as this is truly a loss and I pass on my condolence to his wife and children, and relatives of Ulagunan village, Balada village and members of the Tobatobon clan of Kokopo."Member for Central Bougainville Jimmy Miringtoro also conveyed his condolences."His contribution at the national level is in the communication industry, including the development of the national information and communication policy that led to parliament enacting the national information and communication Act in 2009," Miringtoro said.Arrangements are being made to fly his body home.