Project assistance completion report : Grenada, relief and reconstruction (543-0010)

At the Point Saline International Airport, damages totaling $1,743,617 have been paid, replacement equipment has been installed, and repairs have been completed. All legitimate civilian claims ($1,983,264 in total) have been paid. Repairs have been made on the Westerhall telephone exchange and the Radio Grenada station, which were severely damaged during the intervention. Repairs were made at the Richmond Hill mental health facility as an interim measure prior to construction of new facilities. This construction was delayed initially by uncertainty as to what type of facility should be built, and later by design and site selection problems and heavy rains. Eventually, a 26-bed acute psychiatric unit was finished at Rathdune in 11/86 and a multi-structure 80-bed facility for longer-term care was completed at Mt. Gay in 12/86; TA for improvement of community mental health services and associated on-the-job training were also provided. The mental health facility is seen as a model for the region, but there is a good deal of concern that the facility's recurrent cost burden may be too great for Grenada to sustain. Several lessons were learned. Under emergency conditions, A.I.D. effectively mobilizes financial and human resources to address discrete needs, especially for the renovation or repair of damaged infrastructure. However, emergency and especially highly political conditions increase the difficulty of implementing projects that require intensive social and cultural understanding and delicate judgment calls. One potential problem is over-design. Designs that meet minimum U.S. health/safety standards may be too costly for a developing country to maintain. At some point, A.I.D. might need to determine what is good enough given local conditions and standards, and build to those design criteria.