BY ELIAS
NANAU
Patriotic
Papua New Guineans defied the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and turned up in
hordes at the Independence Hill this morning in Port Moresby witnessing the 45th
occasion of the flag raising ceremony commemorating Independence.
Prime
Minister James Marape in his second Independence address wore a similar kind of
knitted woolen pullover his shirt and tie like he did last year.
The
pullover is in PNG signature colours- designs of the southern cross stars and
bird of paradise were gallantly stood out in the early morning ceremony.
His 20
minutes address was about challenging citizens to do better for the country
collaboratively, and he promised children of Papua New Guinea that his
government would do better as far as development is concerned and that they
live happily.
“That is
why as Prime Minister I have commenced the work of restoring good governance,
empowering our people, and shifting the balance back to national interest,
rather than the interest of a small few,” he said.
Marape
has acknowledged the first Prime Minister Michael Somare and his colleague
politicians Sir Julius Chan who are both today celebrating Independence in
Kavieng.
“We have
the hindsight of the last 45 years to guide us into the next 45 years and I am
confident the future is bright,” Marape said.
He was
four years old in 1975 when he witnessed the flag being raised at remote Nomad,
Western Province when his dad was a Seventh Day Adventist pastor there.
In a
space of time, he was elected as the eight Prime Minister and privileged to be
delivering a speech at Independence Hill.
He said
nothing was impossible and appreciating that, people must be inspired to
achieve things acknowledging God as the centre of delivering change.
“In
our country, our God Yahweh has blessed us with agriculture, fisheries,
forestry, water, cultures, biodiversity, minerals, oil and gas. This is why we
can become the richest black Christian nation on earth, where no one person is
left behind,” Marape said.
He
reflected that this was the vision in 1975.
“But to
get to our destination of a well developed nation, each of us must play a
role.”
“All of
us must commit to building a Papua New Guinea that future Papua New Guineans
will be proud of,” he said.
He has
appealed to young children like his daughter was dressed in the Huli attire and attended the ceremony that they can contribute to
the country’s future by being law abiding students who support their parents,
maintaining faith on God and study hard so that they can make a difference to
the future of Papua New Guinea.