By Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
Hope Shearer-Maxwell, daughter of late former Prime Minister Hugh Shearer, touches his body at the BITU headquarters yesterday. Beside Mrs. Shearer-Maxwell is husband Junior (left), daughter Justine and Bruce Golding (right), Jamaica Labour Party chairman. - Rudolph Brown/Staff Photographer
FOR JUST over six hours yesterday, Hugh Lawson Shearer turned up for 'work' at the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) at Duke Street, downtown Kingston. And just like the old days, the former Prime Minister was the centre of attraction.
Wesley Nelson, an assistant island supervisor at the BITU, told The Gleaner that over 3,000 people came through the organisation's gates to look at Mr. Shearer's body. The BITU stalwart died July 5 at his home in St. Andrew at the age of 81.
MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, Leader of the Opposition Edward Seaga and several Members of Parliament were among the hundreds who paid their respects to Mr. Shearer, who served as Jamaica's third Prime Minister from 1967
to 1972.Trade union leaders, including Lambert Brown of the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) and Danny Roberts of the National Workers' Union (NWU), also signed the book of remembrance which was just a few feet away from the casket which was flanked by soldiers and draped in the colours of the Jamaican flag. Shearer was a mainstay of the union movement, serving the BITU for over 50 years.
Among those paying homage yesterday to Mr. Shearer was Minna Hendricks, Mr. Shearer's assistant since 1973. "He was the greatest Jamaican ever born," she said. Clifton Stone, a former MP and BITU representative and one of Shearer's closest friends, also saluted his colleague. He said the mix of dignitaries and common folk that visited the BITU yesterday was a reflection of how Mr. Shearer lived his life.
HIS STRONGEST POINT
Clayton Banton, a negotiator with the BITU for the past seven years, said Mr. Shearer was a 'mountain of a man' whose ability to break the ice in tension-filled negotiations was his strongest point. "He was always giving jokes and used that same sense of humour to disarm people at the negotiating table...he was somebody I looked up to literally and figuratively," said Banton.
It was the second straight day that Mr. Shearer's body was lying in state. On Wednesday, hundreds flocked the Vere Technical High School in his former South East Clarendon constituency to view the man known popularly as 'HL' for the final time.
Mr. Shearer's body will lie in state today and Saturday at the National Arena between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. He will be buried Sunday with the service at the Holy Trinity Cathedral and members of the public will no longer require a ticket to attend the service. The former Prime Minister will be buried at the National Heroes Park.
