The main opposition New Democratic Party has dismissed as “a feeble attempt by the ULP to distract”, claims and social and mainstream media comments that the design of the proposed hospital the NDP unveiled on the weekend are taken from an Internet game.
At a rally focused on healthcare in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Saturday, the NDP unveiled the design of the hospital, which it said will include a helicopter service and will cost EC$75 million to build.
The party said that it will construct the hospital if elected to office in elections later this year and is already exploring financing.
But sometime after the designs were uploaded to the social networking website, Facebook, a mock design, purportedly from Farmville, a game on Facebook, began making the rounds, accompanied by the claim that the NDP’s design was copied from the game and modified.
Speaking on his weekly radio programme on Monday, NDP president and Leader of the Opposition, Arnhim Eustace, said he had heard some radio announcer claiming that the design was copied from Farmville.
“I wouldn’t describe their comments as particularly meaningful, but designed to cast doubt…” he said.
“People who have some of the most basics in commonsense would recognise that it would be futile for us to do something like that. It is so stupid and silly and far from funny,” Eustace said.
“What I want to say about it though, anybody who wants to see the layout done by Stewart Engineering over the last six months as this project was designed are free to come and see the designs. That will be the proof. You can see the layouts of the design…” he said
Glenford Stewart, an engineer and former minister of works under the NDP administration, owns Stewart Engineering.
“And I am proud of him and proud of our party and him for sticking with the issue. The layouts are there for all those who want to come and see them. So all those who are making these comments, I think you should exercise a little more reserve,” said Eustace, who said he will make the designs available at his party’s headquarters on Murray’s Road.
Separately on Monday, I-Witness News asked the NDP to respond to the claim that it had copied the design.
Many persons have accused the ruling Unity Labour Party of instituting the claim, and Cummings, said, “Only a party bereft of ideas and desperate for attention would stoop to such a level.
“The work that has gone into this by an opposition party has left them bewildered.
There is much more we will reveal on this in due course,” said Cummings, who is also MP for West Kingstown.
Opposition spokesperson, Sen. Vynnette Frederick also responded to the I-Witness News request for comments, saying:
“To say that this is a concept from Farmville is nothing more than a feeble attempt by the ULP to distract from the fact that they have been outdone.
“The NDP is proposing not only a state of the art facility, but a well thought out approach to tackling the health care system and the problems identified by the current ULP government in its damning 2014 Report on Healthcare in our country.
“It is nonsense of the highest order and desperation from a government that is afraid to call an election date, a government that is not capable of running on its record, a government whose time is up,” Frederick said.
During his radio programme, Eustace
described the “attendance and the spirit and energy as something fantastic” and thanked Stewart Engineering for the time it spent on the designs.
“I think there was great appreciation when it was unveiled at Calliaqua on Saturday night,” he said, adding that he had received more calls and kudos about the rally than any other.
“And I believe that people are happy that we are addressing the issue of health in a meaningful way, and to spend a meeting, a public rally focusing only on that matter gives you an indication of our interest and our determination to do something about health in St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” Eustace said.
If this isn’t plagiarism by Stewart and/or the NDP, I don’t know what else to call it.
If it looks exactly the same — which is my humble interpretation — then it is either identical or a one in a billion coincidence.
Not that it really matters because it will never be built, at least not for a paltry $EC 75 million, including an air ambulance.
As I am tired of saying, lots of us want to see the end of the Gonsalves regime but fear that the NDP alternative will be just as bad, if not even worse.
I think you are seeing the real picture lately . Anyone with sense will know a Hospital with those type of services will need more cash input .
In spite of what they say, if I took the other image and placed it in photo shop I can certainly come up with something looking like the hospital. Looks like a copy to me. Im hoping that the NDP isnt trying to pull a fast one on everybody.That would be the lowest.
In the last election, the NDP at the last minute, call a hasty press briefing, saying that they have in their hand, documents of a company to assist with the financing of the AIA…it was a most desperate attempt to placate the voters.
Now here we go again. I AM NOT GOING TO SAY THAT THE NDP TOOK THIS DESIGN FROM THE INTERNET… BUT BUT BUT, A BLIND F***ING MAN CAN SEE THESE DESIGNS ARE THE SAME …WAIT, NOT THE SAME BUT F***ING IDENTICAL…WTF. I am no architect but this design is BS. If you going to spend 75 million I expect to see something awe inspiring with a 21st century new generation type design. A design that takes a more holistic approach to patient care, where the surroundings, are taken into consideration-clearly there were no serious consideration given to the surroundings. The design of this “state of the art” facility is something you see in the 1970s. As a matter of fact, this design look more suited for A F***ING PRISON than a hospital; there is nothing imaginative about this design and A F***ING FIFTH GRADER COULD COME UP WITH THIS DESIGN.
Let me say this, if Glenford Stewart is saying that this is indeed his company’s design, then Mr Stewart and whoever else, ought to be taken outside and stone with toilet paper. I can’t believe the NDP and Stewart Engineering just hand the ULP a piece of 4×4 and say beat me…this is unbelievable; who really does advice the NDP? Miss Muggy? Sigh.
I can bet anything in the coming days, the NDP WILL HAVE TO WALK BACK THIS PIECE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS DISASTER. But I suspect this will be nine days talk…and I am still sticking to my guns that the NDP will win this upcoming election 10-5…but if the NDP continue making these school boy blunders in presenting information that is “suspect”, then who knows…
Since 2005, ah keep saying the NDP NEED A STRATEGIST, A COMPETENT ONE…cause they seem to be always shooting themselves in the foot…evidently they haven’t gotten one thus far…whoever is advising the NDP on strategy, needs to sit down and be quiet…
The question one has to ask now, is this, WHICH ONE CAME FIRST? DID THE NDP PLAGIARIZED THIS DESIGN FROM FARMVILLE OR DID SOMEONE PLAGIARIZED NDP’S DESIGN AND PUT IT ON FARMVILLE?
ONE THING IS FOR CERTAIN…THIS DESIGN IS CRAP.
The NDP slogan should read: “JUST NOT READY.”
Look at those two pictures they are essentially identical. What a sad state of affairs to copy something someone else has created in a game no less and claim it for your own. Theft is what they call that in a grown up world.
NDP this is not how to win an election as it makes you look weak, short-sighted and to be honest rather dotish to even try and defend the stance you have taken. Coincidence my foot.
NDP – Apologise publicly and move on. A mistake is a mistake. Not your finest decision to try and hoodwink the entire country and take a lazy shortcut to getting voters onside. Watch out that the Farmville designers don’t catch sight of those pictures as you will land in court on plagiarism, theft and copyright charges.
The internet makes the world a very small place and inspiration should be sparked by it but not blatantly copied like this especially from a free game that many Vincentians have seen.
BTW – A helicopter for use as an air ambulance – If the likes of Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire counties in the UK using combined counties funds are struggling to keep an air ambulance in operation – do you think SVG can afford to do it? Go look into the costs for running a helicopter with a medical crew. It will spend most of its life parked on the roof of that (Can I claim credit for the name) SVG – NDP Farmville building.
Also consider this – A helicopter has a large diameter set of blades – So you guys are proposing to throw injured victims 50 feet up to the helicopter because my last view of SVG is its not too flat and telephone and power lines and vegetation (Oh – and the Argyle CROSSWIND component) WILL stop a helicopter from landing anywhere near an incident site. (I hope you like that one)
Was it a 10 yr old that submitted those pictures? Why didn’t you show a breadfruit tree and old billy goats and donkeys in the grounds as that would have been more original !
Voting time is coming… Get your house in order because this foolishness does not win votes.
Kenton,
I know you are a NDP. FOOL; How long are you going to stand inline looking stupid to your fellow man.