Sir Manasupe saluted

By MALUM NALU
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has described the late Sir Manasupe Zurenuoc as someone who served the country with the “highest distinction”.
“Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to come here and say a few words on behalf of a very grateful country,” O’Neill said at his funeral on Saturday.
“We pay respects to our great leader, a leader who served our country with highest distinction and a true servant of our people.
“We mourn together with you today and recognise the loss that you are feeling, and, of course, it is felt by the country as well.”
O’Neill and other leaders spoke glowingly of the former chief secretary, who suffered from Pakinson’s Disease before his death last week, at the funeral service at St Paul’s Lutheran Church in Lae.
Thousands attended.
O’Neill said Sir Manasupe had achieved much during his lifetime.
“The late Sir Manasupe was an inspiration to many people, a guiding light for thousands throughout the country,” he said.
“As I said earlier, he was an outstanding leader of our public service and leader of our people, especially during the  challenging times in our country.
“He had a unique ability to manage challenges that our nation faced from an early time in his career as a provincial administrator from 1989 onwards, becoming secretary of the Department of Provincial and Local Level Government Affairs and finally as chief secretary.
“These are tremendous responsibilities for such a man, but a man who has demonstrated strong leadership very early in his career.
“There are many experiences that many of us here today have experienced with him throughout his career in Morobe and, of course, in the public service.
“Sir Manasupe was committed to service delivery.
“He chose his career deliberately.
“He could have been a high-flying lawyer in some corporate world, he could have been a successful businessman if he chose to, but he chose a noble profession of public service. He has led many public servants by example and trained many future public servants in the process.
“He has changed and reformed the public service structure, especially in the areas that he worked in, the provincial and the local level governments, and the public service.
“Despite global economic conditions, as chief secretary, he further restructured the service delivery system of the government, reducing the cost of running the government.
“Sir Manasupe’s priority was to ensure that the welfare of our people, welfare of his staff, working conditions throughout the country were improved at all times.”
O’Neill commended Sir Manasupe for his “tremendous contribution” to Bougainville.
“The enormous progress that we have made over the past five years is because of the guiding hand of Sir Manasupe,” he said.
“His patience, his ability to engage meaningfully with the people on Bougainville has enabled us to achieve what we have achieved.
“The peace process on Bougainville is very much on track.”
O’Neill said Sir Manasupe also made a big contribution to Hela and Jiwaka provinces. “He was at the forefront of the creation of these new provinces and we are forever grateful,” he said.
O’Neill said Sir Manasupe also had a heart for the “remotest parts of the country”, which had led to the creation of district development authorities.
“As a result, we are now seeing changes that are taking place in every district, every LLG throughout the country,” he said
O’Neill said Sir Manasupe had also contributed to key Government policies like free education, free health and infrastructure development.