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Pita Tamindei

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Pita Tamindei
Member of the House of Assembly
In office
1964–1968
Succeeded byPita Lus
ConstituencyMaprik
Personal details
Bornc. 1918
Loneim, New Guinea
DiedJune 1968

Pita Tamindei (c. 1918 – June 1968) was a Papua New Guinean politician. He served as a member of the House of Assembly between 1964 and 1968.

Biography

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Tamindei was born around 1918 in Loneim, a village near Maprik.[1] He did not receive a formal education and became a coconut and coffee farmer and trader.[1] He was one of the early adopters of rice growing in the Sepik area, as well as trying gold mining.[1][2] He was also involved in the Mitpin Rural Progress Society.[1]

Prior to entering politics, he had served as a luluai (village headman).[1] He became the first president of Maprik Local Government Council in 1958, serving until 1960. He was then vice-president from 1961 until 1963, before briefly serving as president again in 1964.[1] In the first general elections under universal suffrage in 1964, he successfully contested the Maprik seat, becoming a member of the new House of Assembly. He ran for re-election in the February–March 1968 elections, but was heavily defeated by Pita Lus.[3]

Tamindei died in June 1968, aged around 50.[2] He was married with three children.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g The Members of the House of Assembly 1964, p13
  2. ^ a b Pita Tamindei Pacific Islands Monthly, July 1968, p131
  3. ^ Primary count details in New Guinea election Pacific Islands Monthly, April 1968, pp27–28