OfReg invites Caymanians to join Consumer Council

| 01/09/2022 | 80 Comments

(CNS): The Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg) is creating a Consumer Council to advise it on issues involving utilities that significantly affect consumers and is looking for suitably qualified Caymanians interested in serving on this new body. It will be made up of six members, one from each of the districts across all three Cayman Islands. Those members will then speak on behalf of all consumers by identifying issues affecting them, gathering and reviewing statistical information and reporting to OfReg CEO Peter Gough.

The Consumer Council will make proposals and provide advice to OfReg, assisting the regulator to effectively fulfill its statutory duty to protect consumers in the utilities sectors. It will also be empowered to assist consumers with complaints filed with OfReg.

“OfReg has a statutory obligation to represent and protect the rights of the consumer in the utility sectors,” Gough said. “The creation of the new Consumer Council is a crucial element of ensuring we do so effectively. The Council will create open and direct engagement with OfReg for consumers, providing them the opportunity to identify issues, gather information on, and propose solutions on issues that are affecting them.” He said this would help the regulator be better informed and effective in protecting consumer rights.

Since its inception in 2017 OfReg has come in for considerable criticism in relation to consumer protection and has been accused of being too close to the businesses that it regulates. In 2020 a review of the regulator by the Office of the Auditor General found that it did not present value for money to the public and had failed to achieve its fundamental purpose of consumer protection. At that point, the OAG found that that most of its regulatory decisions have not improved consumer protection.

Two years on, while OfReg has claimed to be looking at improving consumer protection and has undertaken a public consultation, no solid evidence that consumers are being helped by the regulator has emerged. The creation of a council where consumers are directly represented may prove to be a turning point.

Applications from Caymanians interested in serving on the Consumer Council are now being accepted. Once appointed, the Consumer Council will work with the OfReg Senior Management Team to determine its practical operations and meeting schedule. Successful applicants will serve for a term of one year and are eligible for reappointment.

They must be at least 18 years old, willing to serve their community and demonstrate knowledge and experience relevant to at least some of the functions of the office. It will be advantageous for applicants to have some previous experience with traditional and digital communications regarding educational and outreach campaigns, as well as a history of community service through organised service clubs or institutions.

For application details and more information visit the OfReg website here
or email Daniel.lee@ofreg.ky 

The closing date for applications is Friday, 23 September.


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Category: Business, utilities

Comments (80)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Simple question. Why has the internet service been slow all week and there has been no press release or comment from OfReg? If I provide poor service in my business, there are consequences, so why is there not a refund for this poor service?

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  2. Anonymous says:

    This committee/council ploy is how successive governments placated the people who are restive and fed up because of the poor job those governments have done in addressing the problems at hand. Now PACTless comes up with yet another iteration of the worn ploy.
    IF an issue gets annoying enough, here’s how history suggest how governments placate we the people and buy time until the next election cycle:
    1. They’ll hold public meetings, maybe in all the districts, ostensibly to get public input into the problem(s). IF you have been a sufficiently effective pain, the meetings are attended by the relevant minister(s). If not, you have not been a big enough annoyance and they will send in their peons to attend the meetings. The utilities issue is past this stage, so on to the next stage…
    2. They will appoint a committee—in this case a council–with members from each district, or form committees in each district.
    –Reality: Don’t be blue pilled, dummies! The committee/council ploy is one of the most valuable, well-used blue pills they have.
    –Reality: Unless the issue has never been the focus of public attention, the committee ploy is a waste of time, a bone they throw to divert the attention to the committee or council. What’s important to them is to get the people off their butts.
    –Reality: Past governments have held public meetings and obtained much public input, the vast majority of complaints and issues regarding utilities have been analysed, cussed, and discussed to death.
    –Reality: From the start, in regard to the issues involving utilities, PACTless should assign people to research the issue: press coverage, videos, minutes of and reports from past meetings and from past committees and groups who were also blue pilled into the same fool’s game. Consult with groups like the Chamber of Commerce and local professional and civic groups to gather evidence of how the utility issues have been addressed or deflected in the past.
    If you end up on this council, the same thing applies: If you do your research, you’ll find that the issue has been analysed ad nauseum and viable solutions suggested for the vast majority of issues/complaints. Let them know, IF PACTless really cared they should get off their lazy butts and find the solutions because the a very large portion of issues with utilities are ages old and solutions suggested countless times but ignored.
    Make PACTless commit to at least begin to implement the solution(s) or you will be their most vocal and determined detractors come next election.
    If you go with the flow and ignore the history of futile past endeavours and become part of the proposed council, the next ploy they’ll use is have the council draft a report or a “plan”, or a paper, or whatever.
    –Reality: If you were to put in a pile all the minutes, reports, plans, papers, and recommendations, etc, handed in by committees and forgotten by successive governments, it would approach the size of Mount Trashmore.
    –Reality: If you play it straight and take the blue pill, you draft your summaries maybe have a parlay or two with the relevant minister(s) and might even be treated to a fete to honour your participation. Your first published summary is out and you are SO proud of yourselves for being a part of this really big deal.
    –Reality: Yet another government breathing a sigh of relief that they were successful in getting people off their butts and diverting attention indefinitely. It is highly likely that very little of the council’s lovely plans will be implemented and it will be very minor parts. Yet another blue pilled group of citizens have been had, wasted their time. The whole exercise will be like peeing in your pants: You got some relief and everybody has seen what you have done, but in the end all you are left with is a warm feeling and soon that will turn cold when reality sets in.

    • Anonymous says:

      Damned if they do and damned if they don’t. This is an opportunity for all of you who has been ragging on OFFREG over the years to get on the committee and show us what you can do to make it better.

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      • Anonymous says:

        I don’t know about all the crap that OfReg puts out. I’m sure they help some people….. XXX. I DO know that they have never helped me in any way that I am aware of. I do know they get big payoffs for doing nothing for most of us.

        OfReg should be flushed away. They are worthless.

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      • Anonymous says:

        @2:23:
        Thy are dammed for not doing their own damned homework and review the most common complaints and actually DOING something to fix the already identified issues. This is not rocket science and does not need another damned committee to fix the dammed problem. Silly me: Expecting the Panton-PACTless Clown Car to do something other than running around in damned circles under the Big Top. What was I thinking?

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        • Anonymous says:

          Um-m-m-m… I don’t believe that PACT had anything to do with the formation of the OfReg fiasco…..
          I like your style of writing, but let’s stick to the facts.

          • Anonymous says:

            @1:37:
            You want facts? Here ya go:
            PACTless certainly can direct OfReg to use their brains and do their damn job and address the many problems which countless consumers and stakeholders have already identified. This is part of their remit. Neither OfReg nor PACTless should need the services of six amateurs to deal with issues clearly identified and understood.
            Excerpted from the Utility Regulation and Competition Law which is the law under which OfReg was formed and operates:
            “12. (1) The Cabinet may, after consultation with the Board, give to the Office general and lawful directions in written form as to the policy to be followed by the
            Office in the performance of its functions and the exercise of its powers under this or any other Law, and the Office shall give effect to such directions.”
            PACTless needs to get OfReg to start delivering value for dollar and get the job done. Yet another committee joining the Clown Car and OfReg running in circles is moronic.

      • Anonymous says:

        What??? You want a thousand more people to get handouts? It sounds like vote-buying!

        • Anonymous says:

          I wonder where the Cayman Islands stand in the vote buying game…..
          Percentage-wise, I’d say, “Right at the top” !

    • Withheld says:

      This may be the biggest pile of crap our leadership has ever came up with! Are they deaf, dumb, and blind? I found nothing offered to really make things better. All that is suggested it adding youngsters, etc. to the circus. Have our leaders lost their minds? One way to make anything better is to get more intelligent people handling things and bettering our lives, NOT complicating things! The best way to start is to get rid of OfReg! They have done NOTHING to make things better or improving things for the people of the Cayman Isands. The only ones benefitted were themselves. Get rid of OfReg. Help the Cayman people!

      • Anonymous says:

        Ahhhh….. the truth comes out! I knew there were many people like myself that could see that OfReg was nothing but a government tit for friends and family. Shut it down!

      • Anonymous says:

        Yes! I whole-heartedly agree!

    • Anonymous says:

      Disband those high-rollers! They are totally useless. OfReg is a cancer in the Cayman government! Stop wasting Cayman’s money!

  3. Anonymous says:

    Will being a Lodge member on your resume be a definite asset for short listing?

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  4. Anonymous says:

    CNS – the Ofreg website suggests that there will be a total of 6 persons – a Chair and 5 others, not 6 persons x 19 districts which would be unmanageable in any context let alone a government entity.

    CNS: We didn’t say 19 people – that was in a comment. See the first paragraph. The confusion lies in the difference in area districts and the electoral districts.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Will there be refreshments?

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  6. Anonymous says:

    This is just another way that OfReg will increase the grabbing of money from the people. What else did they ever accomplish? Nothing, that I ever heard about but getting their place at the well-known feed trough where they have fattened themselves for years! What have they done to help you and I and the rest of the people? You know,
    I can’t remember one damn thing! And now you and I have another group to double-up on OfReg and get richer with more people at the trough. Shame, shame, shame!

    WHERE IS OUR LEADERSHIP??????

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    • Anonymous says:

      “Where is our leadership?”

      We are still asking for new solutions with the same old tools. We are relying on government agencies to fix things after they have shown us time and time again they are either incompetent or unwilling. We can replace the leaders all we want but the same thing keeps happening.

      When do we start to take a deeper look at the tools our society uses. The concept that we can construct and entire house with just screwdrivers is nonsensical. The tools, being the government agencies/ministries with all types of powers that cannot be held accountable, trying to solve issues that arise with the same old methodology and are removed from the consequences of their own decisions.

      Maybe its time we start to think differently about who needs to fix issues. The government doesn’t do it so maybe its time we start to make changes to our lives and do it ourselves. If the government won’t be honest and hold itself accountable, maybe its finally time we hold them accountable.

      • Anonymous says:

        Golly… I hope someone somewhere knows how to REALLY make these fakers stop taking from the people of the Cayman Islands to continue their version of the “Good Life”. What do they Intend to do in the future? The people affiliated with the masons seem to be a lot of the government! Are they our caretakers now?

    • Anonymous says:

      I have given up on leadership. WHERE IS OUR LEADER ?????

  7. Anonymous says:

    Hello…?? District Councils????

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  8. Anonymous says:

    CNS … there is no Immigration Status requirement on the form … we are all consumers Caymanian and Non-Caymanians

    “PROFILE OF BOARD MEMBERS –
    Applicants must –
    • be at least 18 years old;
    • willing to serve their community;
    • be able to demonstrate knowledge and experience relevant to at least some of the functions of the office;
    It will be considered advantageous for applicants to have – • previous experience with traditional and digital communications regarding educational and outreach campaigns;
    • a history of community service through organized service clubs or institutions.”

    CNS: However, the press release (see here) says: “OfReg is currently inviting applications from suitably qualified Caymanians interested in serving on the Consumer Council.”

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  9. Anonymous says:

    No need to have another layer of clay to dig through before ideas and up at ministers level.

    Just read the comments in the media, categorize them and there you have your proposals.

    A few thousand comments will do more than 6 average members of a council.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    Can’t wait to see reps of supermarkets, CUC, Gas stations and members of every other Mafia appointed to this Board.

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  11. Anonymous says:

    This is great…in other news, the Govt has invited left handed one-eyed moped riders to join, Cayman Airways advises they are accepting applications for Chief Marketing OFficer and hoping they can find someone who once wrote a postcard and even posted it…. and the Customs agency has asked if anyone who once touched a 20 pence sterling coin could call them, they need a CEO

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  12. Anonymous says:

    Price controls will be the only thing stop unfairness

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  13. Anonymous says:

    I wish this was also open to permanent residents. I would like to contribute. Having lived here 15 years, it’s difficult to feel fully integrated when I am constantly excluded from things, as if my opinion and expertise are worthless because I wasn’t born here.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Your opinion and contribution are considered worthless for exactly that reason. I thought you would have worked that out by now. It should be part of the knowledge and culture test for getting PR. But not to fret, Ofreg views most caymanians views as worthless as well. Note the requirement for “qualified” Caymanians. 6 carefully selected sock puppets so Ofreg can claim they have consulted the public.

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    • Anonymous says:

      You are not Caymanian. Caymanians have rights to participate in things in the Cayman Islands that other nationalities do not. If you don’t like it, you can always feel free to leave the Cayman Islands.

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      • Anonymous says:

        And that answer right there is why Cayman will always be run like a third-world country. The attitude that where you were born determines how qualified you are for a position or to run for government, instead of how honest or qualified you actually are.

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        • Anonymous says:

          3:56 Agreed. And let’s be honest, momma UK is the only thing that keeps the place from becoming a corrupt full on shite hole. Jamaica is a good example of what will happen if independence is achieved.

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          • Anonymous says:

            No. Jamaica is a good example of when Canadians are allowed too much of a role in how to do things. Leftist policies encouraged by Canada and Canadians directly led to Jamaica’s destruction.

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            • Anonymous says:

              1:45, as one who lived in Jamaica when Michael Manley with his socialist policies and flirting with Cuba began the flight of capital, both human and financial, leading to the inexorable decline of the Jamaican dollar and a once wonderful country, I can assure you Canada had NOTHING to do with it.

          • Anonymous says:

            Yeah and with the centuries that “momma UK” has had to play with, she’s done a fantastic job for herself.

            • Anonymous says:

              I wish the U.K. would take over the governing of the Cayman Islands, since Caymanians have been nothing but failures. I wonder if there is a way I could ask the Queen if she will get it started for us…..?

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              • Anonymous says:

                Oh dear! The UK ain’t doing such a good job for UK. I hope the Indian takes over tomorrow because the other one seems to only have plans to help the wealthy. Same crap just different address.

                CNS: Rishi Sunak is British, not Indian.

          • Anonymous says:

            Maybe go back to the “shitE hole” from which you hail (it’s quite obvious which that is) and allow this one to fall into a shitE hole, in your rear view. Ahh, that’s right, too much opportunity here for you, you’d be living far worse back in your original hole.

          • I I ain’t ready yet Aha says:

            3;56 and 7:02 keep it up ya hear keep it up . Ona ain’t going nowhere . Why don’t you give your ideas to your home country. You know and we all know that the first economic downward swing we have you will ship out with sll your ksbiofles with you so why harp on on trying to run us the way you see fit. Be Gone to ya yard and leave us and our politricks. Thank you.

        • Anonymous says:

          It’s pretty common actually. Given that expats outnumber indigenous persons, there needs to be legitimate protections in place for those indigenous interests. Honestly, would you fairly enact policy on their behalf, or would you invite your fellow [insert nationality here] to “help” you develop and guide. This was done historically, many times over, and by far, that is exactly what played out. This in fact is probably the one thing Caymanians have not (yet) given away or sold.

      • Anonymous says:

        1:34 & 2:21 = Angry fools. If it were up to animals like you, we’d most certainly still be living in caves. 😂😂😂

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      • Anonymous says:

        You jackasses need to realize that progress is trying to be made OfREG only because a “paper caymanian” took charge. “Born caymanians” were already experimented with and all they did was collect free money and did nothing. Typical

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      • Name withheld says:

        Don’t be asinine,2:21. I was born here, but I think YOU should think about leaving! We don’t need smartasses like you.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Same ole, same ole, trust you do not have a British passport then.

    • Anonymous says:

      A Caymanian would not have the same rights anywhere else. Let’s leave it there.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Can’t you take the names of the individuals and share your opinions with them to be submitted? Or perhaps it is not genuinely your opinion being recognized that you’re concerned about.

  14. Anonymous says:

    Hmmm.. Wonder if this will be a paid position?
    If so, we know who will be appointed. Friends and family, close and far.

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    • Corruption is endemic says:

      It is paid, there is a stipend mentioned, but no detail of the amount.

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      • Anonymous says:

        It gives no indication of time needed to serve, nor hourly/weekly/monthly stipend amount.
        Who will apply when those are not mentioned?

  15. Anonymous says:

    So 19 districts times six makes a “committee” of 114. Well that will ensure nothing gets accomplished.

    Curious, do expats not use utilities? Why are they specifically excluded. Maybe Mr Gough who himself is an expat can explain the logic.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Expats are not included because this is the Cayman Islands, therefore, Caymanians have rights over expats. Simple concept.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Well you just disqualified yourself. Perhaps read the article or the press release before commenting. It’s one person from each district, not 6 people from each constituency.

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  16. Reality says:

    As long as there is no statutory control of exclusion clauses in consumer contracts, consumers have no protection.

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  17. Anonymous says:

    how many ofreg members are masons?

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  18. Anonymous says:

    more $$$ going down the drain…just more lodge antics…

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  19. Anonymous says:

    a talk shop for a talk shop….
    only in cayman.

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  20. Anonymous says:

    OfReg needs to investigate FLOWS billing practices.. Persons traveling overseas are instantly charged for roaming at $10 per day when you have not requested it and you are using an US service. If roaming is not requested by the individual FLOW should not automatically charge and bill you.
    The service is unpredictable. Internet is off and on. This is the worse service we have ever had.

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    • Anonymous says:

      @10:42
      In order for them to know you are roaming, your FLOW sim card must be in your phone and active even though you are not actively using that card for calls. Your option is to turn that phone off, or if a dual sim phone, inactivate that sim in your phone settings.

    • Anonymous says:

      They just charged me $80 when I had roaming switched off & used zero data. I also had no incoming or outgoing calls. The only texts I received was one from US service & one from Flow. Ridiculous.

  21. Anonymous says:

    I am a bit confused here. All OfReg has to do is take the complaints and suggestions that they have already received more seriously instead of ignoring them. All OfReg has to do is investigate the issues already reported to them and implement meaningful fines and penalties to ensure that all entities under their oversight are provide the expected and required service.

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  22. Anonymous says:

    For $1,500 per month plus a car, I might be able to spare a couple of hours each month. But I suspect that I might be far behind the list of PACT A$$-kissers.

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  23. Anonymous says:

    I thought Mr Gough was supposed to be an “interim” CEO. Has a recruitment process started yet?

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  24. I ain’t ready yet Aha says:

    Hmm fReg is going off their rockers you think here you have highly aid Rfessionas who are now requiring another TIER TO cast blame on for not fuming their mission What abut the also highly aid Board members what are they ready there for, do they have the expertise being required of this “ Counci

    Enough is enough either fire dem everyone and start a over ease can’t stand this nonsense anymore

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