State Funeral for Hugh Shearer on Sunday, July 18

Tuesday, 06 July 2004 04:00

The State Funeral for late former Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Hugh Lawson Shearer, will be held on Sunday, July 18 at the Holy Trinity Cathedral on North Street starting at 2:00 p.m. Interment will follow at the National Heroes Park.

At a meeting held today (July 6) at Jamaica House to finalize details for the State Funeral, it was agreed that prior to the burial, Mr. Shearer's body will lie in state at the Vere Technical High School in the parish of Clarendon, where Mr. Shearer served as Member of Parliament, on Wednesday, July 14; Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) headquarters on Duke Street on Thursday, July 15 and at the National Arena on Friday, July 16 and Saturday, July 17. Members of the public will be able to view Mr. Shearer's body at all three sites between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

Governor General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Howard Cooke, signs the condolence book for the late former Prime Minister, Hugh Shearer, which is opened at Jamaica House today. Looking on from left are National Security Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips and Information Minister, Senator Burchell Whiteman.

In addition, a special joint sitting of the Houses of Parliament will be held on Tuesday, July 13 to pay tribute to Mr. Shearer, who served as Prime Minister from 1967 to 1972 and was a Member of Parliament until 1993.

As a mark of respect for the passing of Mr. Shearer, the Government of Jamaica has ordered that the National flag should be flown at half-mast on all government buildings including statutory bodies and those of agencies of government.

In addition, an official condolence book was opened today at Jamaica House and persons will be able to write messages of sympathy between the hours of 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday. Other condolence books will be located at the Western Office of the Prime Minister at 10 Delisser Drive in Montego Bay; the National Arena, the BITU, Vere Technical High School and the Jamaican missions abroad.

A committee to plan the funeral met today at Jamaica House under the chairmanship of Dr. Peter Phillips, who is in charge of the government in the absence of Prime Minister P.J. Patterson who is attending the CARICOM heads of government conference in Grenada.

Other members of the committee are Mr. Shearer's son Lance; Jamaica Labour Party Chairman, Bruce Golding; Herbert Fletcher from the OPM; Chief of Protocol, Eleanor Felix; Hardley Lewin, Chief of Staff of the Jamaica Defence Force; Francis Forbes, Commissioner of Police; Opposition Member of Parliament, Ruddy Spencer; Gail Mathurin from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; Marion Bullock Ducasse, Director of Special Projects in the Ministry of Health and Donovan Solomon, from the Ministry of Local Government, Community Development and Sport.

The team will meet again at the Foreign Affairs Ministry this Friday, July 9 to finalize logistics for the funeral.

Mr. Shearer died yesterday at his Hope Pastures home in St. Andrew after a long illness. He was 81 years old.

On the news of his death, Prime Minister Patterson, in a message from Grenada, said that Jamaica and the entire Caribbean region would be plunged into mourning by Mr. Shearer's departure. "He served Jamaica with honour and distinction.his death has deprived Jamaica of a quintessential nationalist and a dedicated political leader," the Prime Minister said.

Meanwhile, Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Howard Cooke, in expressing regret at Mr. Shearer's passing, said that Jamaica had lost one of the "great leaders of our time", noting that he did much to advance the upward social mobility of the people and the country and broaden the accessibility to education for people at all levels.

Other messages of condolence came from Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, K.D Knight; Opposition Leader, Edward Seaga, National Security Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips and members of the trade union movement among others.