THE Prime Minister has saluted the late Minister in the Ministry of Education Lisa Morris-Julian by saying that at her recent screening to stand again as PNM candidate for D'Abadie/O'Meara, she had been given no questions to answer about her record.
Dr Rowley said this to spell out the esteem in which she was held, as he addressed a full congregation at her funeral at Santa Rosa RC Church, Arima, on January 2.
Morris-Julian died with two of her children, her daughter Xianne, 25, and son Jesiah, six, in a house fire at the family home at Farfan Street, Arima, on December 16. She had served as minister and MP since 2020.
Rowley said at a PNM screening, the clock is reset for an MP seeking reselection, but in Morris-Julian's case her record was so clear that the selection committee did not need to ask her anything more.
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"Lisa's screening lasted one and a half minutes."
Rowley also paid tribute to her work as a minister. He said usually a "minister in the ministry" has personality clashes with the substantive minister, but this was not the case for Morris-Julian (who worked with Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly.)
The PM recalled that Morris-Julian did not seek status, but rather to give service to people. He said in her life – which included being a teacher, local government councillor and then Arima mayor – she had got such enjoyment that she then offered herself for even greater service, as MP and minister.
"She never sought power, fame, fortune or influence."
The PM said Morris-Julian had a short life (she was 48 when she died), but within that time, by way of her service to people, she had achieved more than most people achieved in their lives, however much longer than hers.
"She gave without counting the cost, laboured without seeking reward."
Rowley addressed those who almost questioned their faith in light of Morris-Julian's death by recalling that even Jesus Christ, in His last moments on the cross, had implored His Heavenly Father, "My God, why have you forsaken me?" although it turned out God had not forsaken Him.
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Housing Minister Camille Robinson-Regis gave a heartfelt tribute, in which she justified the deep emotion felt by Morris-Julian's colleagues, likely a reference to certain critics of her for crying in public at the scene of Morris-Julian's death on December 16.
Toward the end of her tribute, Robinson-Regis could no longer restrain her sadness and sobbed before being helped down from the pulpit.
