PPP way to service delivery

THE Government is determined to adopt the public-private partnership (PPP) concept in an attempt to stay away from the numerous cases of incomplete infrastructural projects, the first assistant secretary of the Planning Department Julianna Kubak said yesterday.
Mrs Kubak told The National that while they were not trying to do away with the traditional procurement procedures currently in place, the move was necessary if the Government was going to adequately address the infrastructure and service delivery constraints that were increasing throughout the country.
She said the Government, which had thrown its full backing behind the concept, was determined on trailing the model as the arrangement would not only cut down on costs but also see a long term partnership forged with the private sector.
“We want to introduce this policy as another procurement method to help us address our infrastructure and service delivery constraints,” Mrs Kubak said.
“It is value for money, especially when the private sector is bringing with it its resources and expertise to achieve the Government’s outcome specification,” she said.
Mrs Kubak said the lessons learnt so far showed that the Government, in many cases, had committed itself too early in the project that by the end of the contract period, what it was given was a very shoddy piece of work.
“We are trying to avoid that and if it (PPP) can help us address some of the problems that we currently face, then we are willing to try.
“However, we are aware that it is not the answer for us,” Mrs Kubak said.
The PPP concept had not been trailed by the Government and any project that was approved next year under the arrangement would be new grounds for the Department of Planning staff working in the PPP unit currently being established, she said.
She was also asked to comment, at the joint Asian Development Bank and International Finance Corporation organised PPP familiarisation workshop, on the user pay policy that might be tied into any arrangement that was made and how difficult that might be to police in the country.
Mrs Kubak said that while the concept and its intricacies were “a green field for her, the PPP arrangement when applied in sectors such as water and power will try and address some of the deficiencies currently in place”.