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The defaced constituency office at Sion Hill. (IWN photo)
The defaced constituency office at Sion Hill. (IWN photo)
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Leader of the Opposition Arnhim Eustace announced on Friday that he will not repaint in yellow his constituency office at Sion Hill, which was defaced with red paint Wednesday night.

“The only thing I am going to do, I am going to have painted on in white, onto the same red paint, ‘All are welcome’,” Eustace said on radio.

Eustace has also written to Deputy Commissioner of Police Reynold Hadaway asking that the vandalism be investigated.

“In   the   early morning  hours of Thursday July  23rd, 2015   a number of assailants  applied  red   paint to   the   recently painted exterior   walls   of   the  building,   which   houses  the  East Kingstown   NDP (New Democratic Party) Constituency   office.

“We   consider this  to be a  politically motivated   criminal   act.

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“This act   of defacement  and   vandalism   must  be   investigated   so that  the   perpetrators   can   be brought  to justice,” Eustace wrote to the acting police chief.

The owner of the building, who did not want to be named in this article, told I-Witness News on Thursday that they realised that the building was defaced around 7:10 that morning.

The individual said the building had been rented to the NDP about a week earlier.

A Sion Hill resident who was there when I-Witness News visited speculated about who might have orchestrated the defacement.

“That can’t prevent Mr. Eustace from win,” she said in reference to the general elections expected later this year.

Eustace further said on radio that police investigations into the development continue.

“There was a camera located in the area. I will say no more about that,” he said.

“So while I am leaving the building as it is, whatever investigation that is necessary to find out who the perpetrators are will be done by the police with help from certain sources, because we also have some sources of information.

“So, I just want to say to the public you will have to excuse us because the building will remain as it is, defaced by whoever perpetrated this act, and as the occasion arises, we will take the necessary legal action,” Eustace said.

“I am not going to get into any particular dispute and people must see it for themselves and see what has been done,” he said.

Another view of the defaced building. (IWN photo)
Another view of the defaced building. (IWN photo)

It is the second time that NDP election-related paraphernalia has been defaced or damaged at Sion Hill in about a decade.

In the lead up to the 2005 elections, a large NDP poster at the Sion Hill Intersection was set ablaze.

“And the only thing that survived from the burning was my face. And not only my face survived, but I won the seat and the same thing will happen this time,” Eustace said.

Eustace has been representing East Kingstown since 1998, and it is the first time that he is opening a constituency office, distinct from the party’s headquarters, which is located in Murray’s Village, also in East Kingstown.

Some persons have contrasted the defacement of the building to the painting of “NDP”, supposedly by party supporters, on the Bailey bridge in Fitz Hughes ahead of its opening in June.

Related:

Some persons have contrasted the defacing of the building to defacing of the bridge in Fitz Hughes in June. (Image: Facebook)
Some persons have contrasted the defacing of the building to defacing of the bridge in Fitz Hughes in June. (Image: Facebook)

In a post on Facebook on Friday, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sen. Camillo Gonsalves, said vandalising the building at Sion Hill is “a wrong, criminal act”.

“Whether the building was for private, public or political use. It should be condemned by everyone,” said Gonsalves, who is the ruling Unity Labour Party’s candidate for East St. George.

“Vandalising the bridge out leeward with political slogans on the eve of its opening was a wrong, criminal act. It should be condemned by everyone,” he also wrote.

“At the same time, the practice of setting up party or campaign offices on the same block or corner with established party or campaign offices from another political party should be avoided whenever possible, imho. When competing events are held simultaneously or political passions start to run high closer to elections, i think offices practically next door to each other is an unnecessary provocation,” Gonsalves said.

The NDP’s East Kingstown office is located several hundred feet away from the ULP’s East Kingstown Constituency Office, which was recently repainted red.

The ULP’s headquarters at Murray’s Road is also located several hundred feet away from the NDP’s headquarters.

The ULP’s headquarters, located in a rented building, was opened several years after the NDP built its headquarters on Murray’s Road.

6 replies on “Eustace to paint ‘All are welcome’ onto defaced constituency office”

  1. C. ben-David says:

    Who knows which supporters actually did this, ULP or NDP? In the dirty world of Vincentian politics, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that it was NDP supporters who did this to vilify their opponents.

  2. skeckpalmer says:

    This proves my finding during my stay in SVG: The people are seeing through the false hopes that ULP is preaching throughout the land. I was unable to view many videos while in SVG. May laptop had limited features and Internet access. I am not back in TO and use my PC to review what I missed while in SVG. One thing I didn’t miss was the call for a change and to have the election date officially proclaimed.
    In the video one lady stated that all the folks shouting Labour were unemployed. I found the same situation in Central Leeward. I also found that the youths are laying the charge for a change in government. Just like in the referendum, women are in the forefront on issues in the coming election. Many have children who may be qualified but are unemployed. The absence of job and job creation plans is in the forefront of this election. How ironic that many the creating ventures had little or no job opportunities for the Vincentian youths. The Cuban labourers went to SVG and did most of the jobs that Vincentians could have done. The excuses were Vincentians could not handle the equipment and that they were lazy. However they were never given a chance, so how did these puppets know Vincentians were not capable.
    Now Jomo and James are dreaming of things to come, but why now? There is still time to ask Ralph to do something about the economy. He won’t lift a finger to do anything for those constituencies. An example is the Central Leeward constituency where he did nothing for his deputy leader for more than 10 years and ignored Maxwell completely after the deputy chicken-out at the last election. Ralph’s problem is his desire for the entire nation to vote for him, so he could pick his son a leader. Well Papa Doc this won’t work, especially since the “3 for 10” issue is right, left and center in Linton’s constituency.
    By the way I am picking Linton to replace Arnhim when he retires. I often listened to Nice Radio and it was the first time many women called in when Linton was moderator. I am impressed with his handling of some big mouths and serious questions about the legal status of SVG in the world and at home. Linton will win because he knows every inch and almost everybody in his constituency. The people want to give his 90% of the votes and ensure Camillo doesn’t get back his deposit. That scenario is pretty close in Central and South Leeward, where Jomo and Louis were parachuted into the constituencies. I am still at a loss why my friend had to get himself into this embarrassing situation. Ralph has used and abuse him from day one. As a matter of fact Ralph has abused and used all his ministers. He was able to keep their support by putting many of the welfare lists, where they keep digging money out of the SVG people’s pocket. Meanwhile the majority of Vincentians are suffering and turning to crime to keep from starving.

  3. This is not such a serious incident but the electricity in the air of St Vincent may cause us to see worse things happen. It is true that Ralph Gonsalves never condemns such things. Camillo is at least a better person than his father and says this is not right. It is too bad that Camillo has NO experience working in the Private Sector, this makes him unfit to ever be the PM but he is nevertheless better than his father who will actually be a liability for him in the future.
    This time around we may actually see terrible acts by the NDP supporters, who are rightly frustrated. Lets face it Ralph is a loser and always has been. Anyone with a brain knows that he does not have a clue as to how to build a nation. His :”spend, borrow, tax” economics can only keep SVG going into negative. Mitchell was bad but Ralph is terrible. When will SVG ever get a real leader….That is up to the people but up to now…..
    “Vincentians know how to pick bananas but they can’t pick a leader.”

  4. petergriffin says:

    This act was committed by some unemployed youngster so how did they get money to purchase the paint and roller brush.Am sure that these stuff were provided by someone who is accustomed to pay to get their dirty work done.

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