• The Deputy Governor is seconding Christen Suckoo, currently Chief Officer in the Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports, Agriculture and Lands, to serve as Chief Operating Officer at the Utility Regulation and Competition Office, known as OfReg.
• Mr Suckoo will report to Acting Chief Executive Officer Duke Munroe. He will also lead on assorted policy and procedural changes that will further refine the functioning of the utilities regulator, which was created following a merger of utilities, fuel and telecoms regulators in early 2017.
• His arrival will considerably increase the level of senior public administration experience at OfReg.

Grand Cayman (GIS) – OfReg and the Office of the Deputy Governor are pleased to announce the secondment of Christen Suckoo to serve as Chief Operating Officer at the utilities regulator.

Mr Suckoo is currently Chief Officer in the Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports, Agriculture and Lands. On 1st September he will start to work at OfReg, which oversees local electricity, fuel, information communications technology and water suppliers.

Commenting on the decision to add the COO position to the OfReg senior leadership team, Chairman of the Board, Dr. the Hon. Linford Pierson, remarks: “Fair access to utilities, fuels and telecoms is essential to maintaining quality of life in the Cayman Islands, and we understand the importance that people place on this. It is our belief that Mr Suckoo’s secondment and his extensive background in public administration will help OfReg to better address the regulatory and compliance concerns of stakeholders.”

Noting that a Utility Regulation and Competition Law provision facilitates the secondment of public officers, Dr Pierson adds his thanks to the Office of the Deputy Governor (ODG) for agreeing to the move.

Acting Deputy Governor, Hon. Gloria McField-Nixon, observes that a secondment policy has been used successfully within the civil service for some years now. Additionally, various laws including the Public Service Management Law facilitate the movement of staff between the core civil service and wider public service.

“The policy allows us to temporarily move staff to agencies within the public sector that will benefit from their skill sets. At the same time, staff gain exposure to new business environments where they can even develop new skills that will benefit their own professional development. Mr. Suckoo will be playing an important role in supporting public administration and governance at OfReg” Ms McField-Nixon explains. While on secondment Mr. Suckoo will remain a civil servant as his substantive post has been transferred to the Cabinet Office, the Portfolio with responsibility for OfReg.

As COO, Mr Suckoo will bolster key functional areas of OfReg including budgeting, procurement and human resources.

In addition he will lead on special projects aimed at enhancing good governance by implementing numerous policies adopted by core Government in recent years. Among these are: the Official Travel Policy, the Anti-Fraud Policy, the Policy on Offering or Receiving Hospitality, Entertainment and Gifts, the Procurement Code of Conduct, and Procedural Guidelines for Crown Estate Matters.

He comes to the role with a strong background in administration and finance. Prior to becoming the senior civil servant in the Education Ministry four years ago, Mr Suckoo served as Deputy Chief Officer in that ministry, with a focus on finance, administration and major capital projects.

Previous posts include Deputy Director of the Constitutional Modernisation Secretariat which helped to develop the Cayman Islands current constitution, Policy Analyst in the Cabinet Office and Risk Analyst in the Ministry of Finance.

Describing himself as fortunate that his time in the civil service has provided him with insight into all levels of public sector management, Mr Suckoo looks forward to using this background to enhance the work being done by the technical staff at OfReg.

“As I move to the next stage in my career I would like to say it has been a privilege and an honour to work within the core civil service for nearly 20 years. In addition I would like to thank the many people who have helped me and contributed to my progression during that time, in particular my staff at the Ministry,” he adds.

“I welcome the opportunity to join OfReg which is a relatively new organisation within the public service and support its development as a key public authority”.

Mr. Suckoo graduated from the University of South Florida with a bachelor’s degree in finance. In late 2011 he became an accredited mediator with the London School of Mediation.

The Office of the Acting Deputy Governor confirms that Deputy Chief Officer Ms. Cetonya Cacho will be appointed to act as Chief Officer in the Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports, Agriculture and Lands.

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Photo1: Chief Officer Christen Suckoo