Yahneake Sterling, Staff Reporter
HEWITT
CHRISTINE HEWITT Gordon, renowned enter-tainment promoter, has announced that she will be entering representational politics. Hewitt Gordon, in an interview with The Gleaner yesterday, said that she will be seeking to become Member of Parliament for South Trelawny, as Devon McDaniel will not be seeking re-election.
Stating that former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson and Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, along with her father and grandfather, are some of the influences behind her decision, Hewitt Gordon says the people of South Trelawny have played an important role.
"Three-quarters of my journey to become Member of Parliament for South Trelawny has already been won, because I am extremely popular, the only woman more popular than I in Jamaica is Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller," she said.
Noting that she shares a similar background to that of the Prime Minister, Hewitt Gordon said, "We are both from humble beginnings, yet despite all this, the people of Jamaica adore us, because we use what we have to become successful women in the country."
ACQUIRED VOICE
Explaining that the entertainment industry has given her a voice, she said her contributions to her constituency when she becomes Member of Parliament will include donations of family land to the construction of a recording studio.
Additional, she stated that she intends to bring modern technology to the remote area by advocating a partnership with the HEART Trust/NTA for the construction of a training centre, for which she will also donate land.
"I will be campaigning on the needs of the constituency, not promises," she stressed. "I will use my entertainment background to mobilise the youth and move them forward," she added.
Burchell Whiteman, general secretary for the People's National Party, told The Gleaner that other members of the party have also applied to be considered for selection to represent that constituency, but their names will not be revealed at this time.
Hewitt Gordon will be up against the JLP's Marissa Dalrymple Phillibert when the current Member of Parliament, Devon McDaniel, resigns.
