By Jamie Hicks, GIS & Japhia Augustine, Internal Communications
After more than 36 years of serving the Cayman Islands Government and the people of the country, Mr. McCleary Frederick announced his retirement from the civil service.
On Thursday, 8 December 2017 government leaders, colleagues, family and friends gathered at the Government Administration Building to bid him farewell.
Currently Director of Hazard Management Cayman Islands, Mr. Frederick started his tenure as a trainee draughtsman in the Public Works Department (PWD) in 1981.
After mastering this role, he progressed up the career ladder to the position of draughtsman and then to field supervisor.
From PWD he moved to the Department of Planning, where he worked as a code enforcement officer, assistant building control officer and chief building control officer.
During this time he played an integral role in establishing the Building Control Unit, developing and adopting the Cayman Islands Building Code and introducing an electronic system to manage building inspections and plan review.
Mr. Frederick then did a brief stint with the then-Portfolio of Internal and External Affairs, helping to establish a permanent and full-time disaster management agency.
This led to the creation of HMCI, where he first settled in as Deputy Director of Mitigation before being promoted to Director in August 2007.
In May 2017, Mr. Frederick made history as the first international recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Florida Governors Hurricane Conference.
Describing the HMCI Director’s contributions to the civil service, Deputy Governor, Hon. Franz Manderson, says, “Mr. Frederick’s out-of-the-box thinking and quick wit was always refreshing and engaging. He displayed the confidence of a good leader and always showed an affection and love for the people of the Cayman Islands.”
“To be successful in life, one needs to recognise that one’s level of success will often depend on a lot of people,” Mr. Frederick notes. “I have worked with some incredible individuals over the years and have learned a bit from each of them.”
Senior colleagues in the Ministry of Financial Services and Home Affairs, to which HMCI transitioned after the May 2017 General Election, expressed their appreciation for Mr. Frederick’s unwavering dedication to the job.
“Under his leadership, Mr. Frederick has pioneered disaster management for the Cayman Islands and has helped build and maintain a culture of safety for this country,” Home Affairs Minister, Hon. Tara Rivers, says. “His leadership and desire to always serve government and the people of this country, is exceptional and inspiring.”
Chief Officer Dax Basdeo states: “Mr. Frederick dedicated his career to ensuring the best policies and procedures were continuously implemented and helped steer CIG through times of great change and defining moments.”
Ministry of Human Resources and Immigration Chief Officer, Wesley Howell, Mr. Frederick’s line manager prior to the election– referred to him as a visionary thinker.
“Mr. Frederick is the type of civil servant many persons aim to be,” Mr. Howell says. “The CIG thanks him for his service and wishes him all the best in his future endeavors.”
Mr. Frederick will conclude his time as director on 29 December 2017.
Comments (0)
We appreciate your feedback. You can comment here with your pseudonym or real name. You can leave a comment with or without entering an email address. All comments will be reviewed before they are published.