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Minister’s Jet-Set Lifestyle Continues as He Heads to Jamaica ICT Conference While Constituents Cry Neglect

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — It has become almost routine: another week, another overseas trip for Konris Maynard, the Federation’s perennially absent Minister of ICT, Utilities, and Public Infrastructure. This time, Maynard has jetted off to Kingston, Jamaica, to attend CTU ICT Week 2025 under the lofty theme “Driving Change: Connecting Futures.”

While dignitaries gather at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel to network, discuss artificial intelligence, 5G expansion, and “resilient digital economies,” the people of St. Kitts and Nevis are left behind grappling with rolling blackouts, persistent water shortages, and infrastructural decay that never seems to make it onto Maynard’s crowded international agenda.

A Minister Abroad, A Country in Crisis

Since taking office, Maynard’s name has become synonymous with constant overseas engagements—London one week, Brussels the next, now Kingston. His unprecedented jet-setting has left many questioning whether the Minister is more interested in rubbing shoulders with international elites than solving the chronic domestic crises choking the Federation.

Citizens have grown increasingly frustrated that while their taps run dry and their lights flicker, the Minister entrusted with solutions is too often busy delivering speeches abroad or posing for photo-ops with foreign counterparts.

“Every week he’s somewhere else,” one disillusioned Basseterre resident remarked. “But where is he when we have no water? Where is he when the power cuts off for hours? He’s off-island—again.”

CTU ICT Week: Prestige Abroad, Neglect at Home

The Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) and the Government of Jamaica proudly tout ICT Week as a premier event for shaping regional digital futures. Indeed, the gathering features high-level panels on cybersecurity, climate action, and digital inclusion. Yet critics at home argue that Maynard’s presence there is more symbolic than substantive, especially when his ministry struggles to deliver the basics.

Instead of “connecting futures,” as the theme boasts, angry constituents say Maynard should be connecting pipes, repairing transformers, and addressing the daily hardships endured by ordinary Kittitians and Nevisians.

A Pattern of Absence

The PLP opposition has repeatedly flagged Maynard’s habitual absences, branding him “the most traveled, least present minister in recent history.” Dr. Timothy Harris himself has accused the government of reckless governance and “jet-set diplomacy” that leaves the country exposed.

For Maynard, however, the optics remain disastrous. Each new trip amplifies the growing perception that the Minister is out of touch, prioritizing global prestige over national responsibility.

Constituents Demand Accountability

As Maynard takes in keynote speeches on artificial intelligence and networking cocktails in Kingston, ordinary citizens are left in the dark—literally. The anger is palpable, the patience is gone, and the chorus grows louder:

KONRIS MAYNARD IS OFF ISLAND AGAIN.