Friday 8th January has been set aside as a nation-wide public holiday for the country to pay respect to the late Sir Mekere Morauta as he will be laid to rest on that day.
The announcement was made today by Housing Minister and Chairman of the Organizing Committee responsible for the State Funeral Justin Tkatchenko on behalf of the Marape/Basil government.
Minister TKatchenko said this has been sanctioned by the PM James Marape and it is being gazetted so that the whole country can mourn and pay their last respect wherever they are for Late Sir Mekere Morauta.
This is now setting a precedence and a template for future State Funerals going forward into the future.
“This is about setting the new protocols for us to go by for future events such as this,” said Minister Tkatchenko.
A State Funeral Service will be held at the Late Reverend Sioni Kami Memorial United Church on Friday 8th January 2021 from 10am in the morning to 12pm.
Late Sir Mekere Morauta was a United Church attendee, so his family wants to respect his wish and have his funeral service at a United Church.
Straight after the funeral service, the casket including his family will be escorted by the Papua New Guinea Defence Force back to Independence Hill at the parliament house where his body will be laid to rest next to Late Sir William Skate.
“The funeral service will be a closed casket”, said Minister Tkatchenko.
“This is to respect the family’s wish to keep the casket closed.”
At the funeral Prime Minister James Marape will pay tribute to Late Sir Mekere Morauta and Sir Rabbie Nameliu who is a very close friend to Late Morauta will be doing the eulogy at the State Funeral on Friday. However the full outline of the funeral and burial program will be out by tomorrow.
He also mentioned that Late Morauta’s family are still in quarantine at this time but Thursday is when the family comes out of quarantine.
“They will be cleared by the Pandemic Controller Commissioner David Manning on Thursday after their 7 days in quarantine,” he said.
“That is why the funeral will be happening on Friday so that the whole family can also be part of it.”
Minister Tkatchenko also clarified that the state funeral which will have invited guests, all members of the parliament, close associates, family and friends attending, is still open also to the general public who wish to be part of the funeral service to pay their last respect to Late Sir Mekere Morauta.
