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OAS and AES Corporation Begin Training Haitian Electric Technicians in Joint Project

The Organization of American States (OAS), through its foundation The Trust for the Americas, and the AES Corporation today presented a joint project to train Haitian electric technicians as part of mid- and long-term recovery efforts in Haiti.

The Project is part of the commitment and efforts of the OAS to the reconstruction of Haiti. The initiative is also part of the AES Corporation’s initiative to help in assisting the Haitian people and adds to the work it has already carried to provide electric power to certain parts of Haiti, in coordination with the Dominican Corporation of State Electric Companies (CDEEE). It’s also part of the humanitarian work conducted since the tragedy involving donations of medicine, food, tents and electric power generators through the AES Dominicana Foundation.

The program seeks to train Haitian technicians who can serve as agents to reach full recovery of the country’s electrical infrastructure, and to cooperate in the training of other people who would contribute to the recovery work currently carried out by Electricité D'Haiti (EDH). The project will begin in the next few weeks with classes taught in the Dominican Republic by AES instructors, and will include field work in Haitian territory.

The project’s announcement was made today in Santo Domingo by the Director of the OAS Office in the Dominican Republic, Aníbal Quiñónez; the Associate Director of the OAS Trust for the Americas Foundation, Darío Soto; the Vice President of AES for the Central American region and the Caribbean, Jaime Tupper; and the President of AES Dominicana, Marco De la Rosa.

Andrew Vesey, AES regional president for Latin America and Africa, said that “we are pleased to be able to replicate, at the hands of the OAS, this initiative that AES has developed in other countries in the region and that has allowed us to provide the communities where we are present with tools for their development and integration into the labor market, because we believe that the contribution to the communities must be sustainable.”

“This program constitutes a successful alliance between the OAS… the government of the Dominican Republic and the private sector represented by the AES Corporation, in support of the reconstruction of the economic and social fabric of Haiti, and particularly of its power infrastructure,” Soto said.

For his part, Aníbal E. Quiñones said that “the OAS acknowledges the great effort and commitment of the government of the Dominican Republic, the private sector and the Dominican people in the reconstruction of Haiti, through humanitarian help, technical assistance and integral support to the needs of its neighboring country.”

The AES Corporation operates in Latin America since 1993 and in Africa since 2001. Currently it is present in nine countries (Argentina, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Nigeria, Dominican Republic and Panama), where it relies on more than 40 power plants and nine distribution companies that serve more than nine million clients.

For more information, please contact Bredyg Disla (+1 809 467 7130); Kirsis De los Santos, Trust for the Americas (+1 809 979 0413).

Also for more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org

Reference: E-053/10