Following his appointment by NEC late last year, a National Court order was issued on Wednesday to confirm Andrew Liliura as the permanent Secretary for the Trade Commerce and Industry Department.
“I would like to announce that we now have a permanent Secretary Andrew Liliura,” said Trade Commerce and Industry Minister Wera Mori.
Liliura’s appointment comes after a tussle over the position of the Secretary which was left vacant since May 2017.
“I would like to call on the public servants, and the staff of the department to show their support to Mr Liliura and return to work on Monday. We have not been able to perform our duties in the last few weeks and I would like to apologise to the people of PNG for that,” Minister Mori said.
Liliura said his first act as secretary is to consult with the Department of Personal Management to appoint two Deputy Secretaries. He also announced the Department will have to fill in key positions in the department that has been left vacant in the last 4 years.