Roy Biyama (3 August 1967 - 11 September 2021) was a

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

n politician. He was a member of the

National Parliament of Papua New Guinea The National Parliament of Papua New Guinea is the unicameral national legislature in Papua New Guinea. It was created in 1964 as the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea but gained its current name after the nation was granted independence ...

from 2002 until his death, representing the electorate of Middle Fly Open. He was a member of four parties: the Papua New Guinea Revival Party, the

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...

, the

United Resources Party The United Resources Party is a political party in Papua New Guinea. Foundation, Agiru and Akoitai's leadership It was established in December 1997 by Southern Highlands Governor Anderson Agiru, who became the inaugural leader. Its platform emp ...

and the People's National Congress. He served as Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (2003-2004), Minister for Labour and Industrial Relations (2004-2006) and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister (2006-2007) in the Somare government. He had also been Governor of

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: * Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provin ...

since February 2017. Biyama was educated at Biula Community School, Awaba Secondary School and the Kiunga and Balimo Vocational Centres, where he studied as a motor mechanic and in electrical studies. He was a member of the

Balimo Balimo Urban LLG is a local-level government (LLG) of Western Province, Papua New Guinea. It is served by Balimo Airport Balimo Airport is an airfield serving Balimo, in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (ab ...

Town Urban Council from 1999 to 2002. He was a businessman prior to entering politics. He was elected to the National Parliament at the 2002 election for the Papua New Guinea Revival Party, but subsequently joined the

. He has been critical of logging projects that he viewed as providing little benefit to landowners and of the

Ok Tedi mine The Ok Tedi Mine is an open-pit copper and gold mine in Papua New Guinea located near the headwaters of the Ok Tedi River, in the Star Mountains Rural LLG of the North Fly District of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. The mine is ...

. He was promoted to Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology in the Somare government in August 2003 until he resigned amidst conflict between PAP and Prime Minister Somare's National Alliance on 18 May 2004. However, after further turmoil, he was reappointed to the ministry the same day as Minister for Labour and Industrial Relations. In August 2004, he supported Brian Pulayasi's successful challenge for the PAP leadership, ousting

Moses Maladina Moses Maladina (born 4 September 1959) is a former Deputy Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. He is a qualified lawyer, agriculturalist and businessman with investments in PNG and various parts of the Asia Pacific region. He is also a published aut ...

. On 23 June 2006, he was demoted to Minister for State Assisting the Prime Minister. Biyama was re-elected for the

at the 2007 election. In May 2012, the Roy Biyama Building, a government office building in

was opened in his honour. Having crossed to the newly-governing People's National Congress after Somare's ouster in 2011, he was re-elected for the PNC at the

2012 election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

. In the parliament of 2017, he was deputy chairman of the Culture and Tourism Permanent Committee and the Administrative Services Referral Committee and a member of the Emergency Permanent Committee and the Plans and Estimate Permanent Committee. He also assumed the role of Governor of Western Province in February 2017 following the conviction and imprisonment of Ati Wobiro, which fell to Biyama as the province's only remaining MP following a suspension and a death in the other two Western seats. Biyama died of

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

on 11 September 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biyama, Roy 1967 births 2021 deaths Members of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea People's National Congress (Papua New Guinea) politicians United Resources Party politicians People from the Western Province (Papua New Guinea) 21st-century Papua New Guinean politicians