Consumer Council chair commits to representing people – Cayman Islands Headline News

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Cayman Islands Consumer Council, Cayman News Service
(Back row L-R) J. Paul Meyer, Alanna Warwick-Smith, Tony Catalanotto, Natalie Holder-Wellington. (Front row L-R) OfReg CEO Peter Gough, Council Chiar George R. Ebanks, and Megan Ritch

(CNS): George Ebanks, the chair of the newly established Consumer Council, has told CNS that he is committed to consulting with the public and ensuring their concerns are conveyed to the Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg), which created this new body to protect the rights of consumers. Ebanks said he would not allow the council to become just another government spin-off entity that doesn’t make a difference.

He said it would be proactive and seek out the real views of the people regarding their concerns dealing with the entities regulated by OfReg.

Seven members of the public were recently appointed by OfReg to the Cayman Islands’ first Consumer Council with the primary purpose of representing consumers and protecting their rights by identifying and advising OfReg on issues affecting them across the utilities sector.

Cayman News Service
George Ebanks joins a gas price protest march, October 2015

The council’s role includes gathering statistical dta and providing reports and proposals to OfReg on consumer issues.

Speaking on behalf of the council, Ebanks explained that this is not a formal committee of OfReg and would operate autonomously, acting on behalf of consumers in making proposals and providing advice to OfReg for action.

“Under my chairmanship, the council will aim to discharge its duties by seeking out the views of each and every consumer of these islands. To be successful, we must be an active conduit through which the average ‘man on the street’ consumer can, and must, have a seat at the table of regulatory compliance and transparency,” he said in a press release.

Speaking to CNS following the announcement of his appointment, Ebanks said it was essential that the council goes out into the community and seeks public input about people’s experiences and what they consider the priorities for consumer protection. He said the council was committed to becoming the voice of consumer complaints and would represent them across the Cayman Islands by seeking out information through, among other things, a series of town hall meetings in all of the districts, which will begin very soon.

Ebanks said he wanted the council to be a true advocate for the people and to actually spearhead the action needed to address the issues consumers have. He explained that the remit is to focus on utilities and fuel prices, a long-held concern of Ebanks, who took to the streets in 2015 to protest prices at the pump and the way the oil suppliers set rates. However, he expects a “tremendous amount of participation from the public” and believes it’s unlikely this will be confined to these areas.

“We expect people will be concerned about many other areas where consumers have concerns about prices and the council could, in time, also become a conduit to government about those wider issues,” he said.

The council will report directly to OfReg CEO Peter Gough, who said the regulator had a statutory obligation to represent and protect the rights of the consumer in the utility sectors. “The new Consumer Council is a crucial element of ensuring we do so effectively, and we look forward to working with the chair and the rest of the council members in fulfilling our responsibilities to consumers in the Cayman Islands,” he said.

Joining Ebanks as council members are Tony Catalanotto, Judy Dilbert, J. Paul Meyer, Megan Ritch, Alanna Warwick-Smith and Natalie Holder-Wellington, who were appointed after the regulator issued an invitation for people interested in joining the council in September last year.

OfReg is still looking for a representative for Cayman Brac and Little Cayman who is based in the Sister Islands and is asking interested people to email Daniel.lee@ofreg.ky.


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