St Kitts: Minister of Public Utilities, Public Infrastructure et al, Konris Maynard has come face to face with allegations from Duncan “Big Lice” Wattley. Wattley made these remarks during a live rant session. In the video, he made several serious, scandalous, outrageous and downright false statements against Minister Maynard.
According to Wattley, Minister Maynard was involved in the disconnection of electricity in his house. Maynard, who responded to the allegations with a thorough and detailed statement, refuted the claim.
The Minister has come out to defend himself against Wattley’s remarks and called them ‘Blatant lies and defamatory.” Minister Maynard said that he plans to take action against the defamatory remarks and has also discussed the matter with his lawyer
The Minister said that Wattley wants to harm his character and reputation both personally and professionally. Maynard said that Wattley is taking advantage of his platform and position in the government to cause harm.
The Minister claimed that he had heard the remarks that were made by Wattley and had clarified them for the people of the country.
The Minister clarified that even though SKELEC is one of the many public service institutions that fall under his responsibility as minister of Public Utilities, it is independent of his control in the day-to-day management of affairs.
The organization has people and rules to deal with day to day affairs and dealing with outstanding arrears. The Minister clarified that he does not instruct or suggest to SKELEC about the disconnection of any customer.
The minister further revealed that he found out about Duncan “Big Lice” Wattley in a Facebook post. Maynard suggested that Wattley could have taken a serious and mature approach to dealing with the decision made by SKELEC. The Minister added that he did not want to create a false story and attack him or his character.
In his public statement, Minister Maynard assured the people of the country for his sincerity towards the responsibilities that he was given. Minister Maynard said that as Minister with responsibility for SKELEC, he has not engaged in any illegal, fraudulent or corrupt practice hoping for personal gains.
The Minister has further clarified that he does not have any legal or beneficial interest in any company that bids for public contracts. The award of contracts is handled under The Procurement and Contract (Administration) Act.
Section 23 of the said act establishes a procurement board and also includes the present and past members of the board.
He confirmed that he is not an ex officio member of the procurement Board, as such, he is not involved in the process of awarding contracts of this nature.
Minister Maynard talked about his and his wife’s previous academic, personal and professional achievements, asserting that they are respectable members of the country.
In the same breath, he called out Wattley for his attempt to degrade his name claiming that he is taking these allegations extremely seriously. He announced that he will not ignore the remarks and has already started legal action on the situation.
The Minister said that he wants Wattley to remove the video from his social media and apologize for his comments.
“I will NOT allow Mr Wattley’s reckless disregard for my reputation or integrity to stand.” Said Minister Konris Maynard and pledged that he pursue the matter.