Leaders: Basil fair-minded

AUTONOMOUS Bougainville Government President Ishmael Toroama says Sam Basil was a man committed to the betterment of others.
“He believed that service delivery must be equally distributed to the people and he strove to ensure the Government mechanisms of service delivery catered effectively for the needs of every Papua New Guinean,” Toroama said.
“He will be fondly remembered on Bougainville for his collaboration with our three National MPs in North, Central and South Bougainville on important infrastructure development programmes on Bougainville.”
ABG vice-president Patrick Nisira said: “His loyalty to the Marape-Basil coalition Government and his commitment to the people were the driving force in his efforts to alleviate poverty and improve the lives of the people.”
PNG University of Technology (UoT) in Lae staged a walk of sorrow to pay tribute at the university’s Taraka campus in Lae on Saturday.
UoT students’ representative senate president Denzel Komun said Basil’s leadership was felt throughout the country.
“This is to show what kind of person he was,” he said.
“He (Basil) was man of people, change and honour. He was known throughout the country as a change maker.”
National Advancement Party leader Robert Nilkare described Basil as a hardworking leader.
He said the gap Basil left behind would be hard to fill.
PNGCCI president Ian Tarutia said: “Together with our Lae Chamber of Commerce and Industry affiliate, we join the rest of Papua New Guinea in mourning the death of a strong modern leader taken away at the prime of his life.”