Project assistance completion report : regional utilities maintenance project -- 08/13/88-09/30/95

Overall, project targets were greatly exceeded. The Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC) was created and, due to its excellent performance and marketing strategy, attracted 23 utility companies and 11 other members, against a target of only 7 participating utilities. CARILEC also formed 9 business relationships with Caribbean, Canadian, and U.S. organizations with which it has common interests. The original proposal to train staff in common services in the United States was canceled in favor of local training. CARILEC's training was, and continues to be, a resounding success and has been widely acclaimed for raising the standards of service in the utilities. In less than 5 years, CARILEC initiated a program acceptable to its members and carried out 203 training courses resulting in 17,350 trainee days and over 3,150 trained persons. Training topics included management, administration, business, engineering, technical and craft. Due to the success of training, CARILEC added a joint services program which is progressing satisfactorily. Over 32 activities have already been completed or are ongoing. Examples include the Joint Services Catalogue, the Hurricane Action Plan, the Materials Procurement Plan, and Joint Insurance. In June, 1995 CARILEC achieved self-sustainability after redrafting its business documents to reflect its independence from USAID. Lessons learned include the following. (1) Let the recipient of assistance decide what it really wants. USAID's role should be that of a facilitator helping the recipient to clearly define the problem. (2) Use audits and evaluations as management tools. Use of these tools early in this project pushed CARILEC towards profitability and therefore survival in the marketplace.