BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – SPEAKING last night (Oct. 3) before a capacity crowd at the spacious Twilight Conference Hall in Lime Kiln, which was void of standing space, Konris Maynard outlined some of the developmental plans he has in mind for the constituents of St. Christopher Three (West Basseterre).
The 30-year-old engineer and six-time National Calypso Monarch was nominated, from among a three-man group, the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party’s (SKNLP) Candidate for St. Christopher Three following former Deputy Prime Minister Sam Condor’s resignation from the Dr. Denzil Douglas-led Cabinet on January 30, 2013.
In his eloquent acceptance speech, Maynard introduced himself to the constituents, humbly accepted the nomination and thanked all those for the confidence reposed in him to be, as he put it, the next Parliamentary Representative for Constituency Number Three.
“My name is Konris Gregor Menten Maynard and with utmost humility and a deep sense of patriotism I accept the nomination for the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Candidate representation of Constituency Number Three. I did not travel this journey alone and would like to extend my profound gratitude to Mr. Osbert France and the Attorney General, Mr. Jason Hamilton. They acceded the call of service for the greater good of our country and they will no doubt be indispensible in our mission to win the hearts and minds of the good people of Constituency Number Three.”
Maynard told the gathering, which included the Federation’s Prime Minister and Leader of the SKNLP, the Rt. Hon Dr. Denzil Douglas; his Deputy the Hon. Dr. Asim Martin, Ministers Marcella Liburd, Nigel Carty and Richard ‘Ricky’ Skerritt; and Dr. Terrance Drew; that he is going to “win big” for all his constituents, regardless of their political affiliation.
“I have an insatiable thirst to see more of my fellow countrymen become land and home owners, to become small business owners not only providing services to St. Kitts and Nevis but to the world. There is no reason why an accounting firm in St. Kitts and Nevis cannot be providing services for companies halfway around the world. There is no reason why a construction development company based right here in St. Kitts, in West Basseterre, cannot only be building the next five star hotel on the Southeast Peninsula, but also one in another corner of the globe.
“In this new age of technology we must continue to foster an environment where software companies of our indigenous people can build the next best app for the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. I hunger for us to become a more self-reliant nation where we produce most of what we eat. A nation’s health is a nation’s wealth.
There is no reason why we should not be among the healthiest people in the world. We have the best land, the best water, the freshest air and an untainted ocean around us. God has blessed us in abundance. Antigua, Anguilla, St. Maarten, the BVI and the whole of the Eastern Caribbean should be eating our agricultural produce. With increased food security comes a reduction in food costs for the masses.”
He emphatically stated that the Federation has the requisite elements to be energy-independent and that he is pleased with the government’s recent commissioning of the Solar Farm at the RLB International Airport.
“As an electrical and computer engineer by training, I cannot help but to visualise a St. Kitts and Nevis that is energy-independent. We have sun all year round…12 hours a day minimum. We have a consistent flow of the Northeast Trade Winds, and the ever real prospect of Geothermal in Nevis. I am pleased with the efforts made by this Labour Government on this front, especially in light of the recent development of the Solar Farm at the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport. We must forge on toward energy-independence, as this will certainly reap significant savings in energy over the long run.”
Like the late Martin Luther, Maynard has a dream. He wants the name of the twin-island Federation to become a staple in the dialogue of the globe as a shining light of stability, creativity, beauty and prosperity.
He stated that the nation must not only view tourism in its traditional sense of people visiting the Federation on vacation, but “we must continue to look seriously at Education Tourism, where a sizeable university on our shores can provide hundreds of jobs as our domestic services would have to be expanded to cater for the short term residents”.
Maynard is of the view that Health Tourism could one day be a term in “our jargon where we can promote wellness in paradise”.
In addition to his national vision, the reigning Calypso Monarch also wants to satisfy some of the needs of his constituents.
Maynard declared that when he is elected, he would ensure that the people of Palmetto Point have a functioning community center that “can be used by the villagers to access computer services and facilitate after school community activities”, while the residents of Boyd’s would be provided a playfield and the young men in that village and also those in West Farm, who have demonstrated a keen interest in farming, fishing and landscaping, would be assisted in establishing their businesses.
Maynard has plans to render assistance to every area in his constituency and, in addition, to the aforementioned, he said, “The people of Shadwell, much like Points, West Farm, Boyd’s, Camps, Buckley’s and the entire V8illage area must benefit from their fair share of affordable housing and land ownership. You can now feel confident that I will be winning big for you.”
A number of Labour Party stalwarts had made presentations at the event, including Dr. Douglas, who declared that the crowd seen last night could in no way be compared with what is expected at the official launch of Konris Maynard, which would soon be announced.
