ROWLEY WASN’T WRONG

He said before a packed congregation at the St Martin de Porres RC Church in Gonzales, Belmont at the funeral for Jamilia De Revenaux, who was murdered two Sundays ago at MovieTowne, Port-of-Spain.

Her throat was slit.

A man De Revenaux knew, has since been detained by police.

During his inaugural ‘Conversations with the Prime Minister’ series in Maloney last week Monday, Rowley told women at the event, “I’m not in your bedroom. I am not in your choice of men. You have a responsibility to determine who you associate with and to know when to get out and the State will try to help.” The comments were deemed by several feminist groups as insensitive with one group saying Rowley demonstrated a terrible lack of judgement and faulty reasoning.

“Sisters, the Prime Minister was not wrong, so let us look out for ourselves,” Fr Harvey declared.

“It is not easy,” the priest continued.

“People may laugh at you because you do not have a man. Don’t let it bother you.” He said Jamilia used to tell him she knew her responsibility as a parent was to bring up her daughters in the right way and to make the right choices. “All I can do is applaud her for that,” Harvey said.

“She was right. It is my hope all of you who have daughters will make sure they understand the choices they make.” On the Prime Minister’s comments, Fr Harvey said, “All he was saying is women need to watch out for themselves and be careful when they choose. Some people took it as an insult and even as a challenge.

“What I have discovered not only about this situation but others as well, is it is not simply about one woman and one man. It is a little more than that.

And if the Prime Minister made a mistake by not mentioning men at the same time, that is his problem...not mine. But we better understand it is both men and women who carry a responsibility for the future of our society.” Harvey pointed out there is need to train and educate men on how to deal with their feelings.

At the service, which saw a heavy police presence, Fr Harvey was the lone speaker as one of Jamilia’s closest friends Porsche Lewis became overwhelmed and could not continue with her tribute.

All Lewis was able to say was that De Revenaux meant a lot to her and welcomed her into her home whenever she needed to talk.

Addressing women in the congregation, Fr Harvey said, “As women you have to learn how to choose to some extent.

You won’t know a man just because you meet up with him.

You have to give it some time.

We cannot carry down the Prime Minister and say what he is talking is rubbish. While people are fighting whether the Prime Minister is right or wrong, criminals are getting away.” Turning to the men, Fr Harvey said, “Brothers, we are not off the hook. A woman is not a thing. Women are human beings....

bone of your bone, flesh of your flesh. That is what God says to us. She must be treated as a person. She will tell you things sometimes to get you vex and as a person she has choices to make. We as men have to respect these choices. When we get vex, we have to know how to control it.” The priest said society is as strong as its weakest link, noting there are some weak links running around and pulling society apart.

Following the service, Jamilia’s body was escorted by police to the Tunapuna Cemetery for interment.