Wewak pulls out all stops for Abes

 WEWAK town, in East Sepik, came to standstill as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie Abe arrived to a rousing welcome on Friday.

The road from Boram Airport to the Japanese Peace Park, Wewak Hill, Boys Town and Brandi World War II Japanese battlefield were decorated with flowers by thousands of people, including school children, that assembled along these roads to take a glimpse of the prime minister and his wife.

All roads in town were barricaded by police during the four-hour visit while business and government offices closed for the day.

His first leg of the visit from the airport was at the Japanese Peace Park where he was met by Wewak MP Jim Simatab and Mayor Charles Malenki.

Abe and his wife said prayers and laid wreaths before proceeding to the Village Inn, at Wewak Hill, to have lunch with Governor Sir Michael Somare.

He later visited the Boys Town memorial and unveiled a plague and proceeded to Brandi battlefield before heading back to the airport and returned to Port Moresby.

Abe thanked the people of East Sepik for the warm welcome, adding that made him feel as if he was driving back into his home town.

Speaking at the luncheon hosted by Sir Michael, the prime minister acknowledged Sir Michael for establishing the bilateral relations between Japan and Papua New Guinea when he was prime minister 29 years ago.

He said the good relations now enjoyed by Japan and Papua New Guinea in a wide range of areas was the effort of Sir Michael who is currently in active politics.

Abe expressed deep remorse to the people of East Sepik for threatening their lives during World War II when their place was made a battlefield.

Sir Michael hailed the visit of Abe, whom he first met in 1986 when he was advisor to the Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister.

He said Tokyo is only five hours by plane from Wewak only that posed a vast opportunity for Japan to invest in trade and tourism, fishery and other natural resources.