Lisa Hanna

The Editor, Sir:

There is much controversy about Lisa Hanna being the candidate for the PNP in St. Ann. A lot has been said in anger, out of ignorance and from people who have a lot to lose if their candidate is not chosen. I think the question everyone should be asking is: "Who is the best person to represent us, to make sure that the particular area of the country has what it needs; to bring wealth, respectability, promote good citizenship, proper education, and all that people want for their communities?"

I think all those people who are saying that they don't want her, don't really know who she is. They are thinking of her as a beauty queen only.

I have known Lisa for all of her 31 years. She is my goddaughter and is really like a real daughter to me. When she was born, her mother and I shared a building at 8 Bravo Street, St. Ann's Bay, where I had a medical practice and Shirley Hanna had a hairdressing salon. Her family was then living in St. Mary and I was in Runaway Bay, where I still reside. At one time, Lisa stayed with me when I lived in Mammee Bay, St. Ann. So, for those people who wonder if she knows St. Ann, I hasten to tell you that she has spent many years there and still visits me there.

Civic-minded

Lisa has always been civic-minded, andalways had a tendency to care for the underdog. She grew up seeing her family involved in community work and is a natural leader, excelling in most things in which she participated. At school, she was head girl at Queen's; at university she was voted by the student body as the university's external affairs chairperson for the Guild of Students. She was personally responsible for obtaining the funds to build the computer lab for the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of the West Indies. She also mobilised funds for a scholarship fund for university students.

She has trained 2,000 Jamaican children in character development through the Lisa Hanna Workshops. She is involved in community work at many levels, teaching women in the skills-training programme in Jones Town, and has been instrumental in getting scholarships to high schools for many inner-city children.

The Prime Minister and former Prime Minister the Hon. P.J. Patterson are quite aware of the value that Lisa would bring to any community. Whenever I see young people of Lisa's calibre offering themselves for service, I am supportive and venture to say, with Lisa's hard-working ability, her caring, her connections and her fund-raising abilities, St. Ann and the rest of Jamaica would surely benefit by her presence in Parliament. Lisa has vision, she is bright, intuitive and a beauty with a purpose.

I am, etc.,

Dr. W. Miller-Rowe

Cardiff Hall, Runaway Bay