Missed opportunities
For some time now Guyana has been using the public-private partnership (PPP) to invest in the creation of several public goods. Proponents of the concept describe public-private partnerships as long-term contractual relationships between public and private entities to share the risk for the design, construction, and operation of infrastructure project or the delivery of services. The three things that stand out are risk-sharing, joint production and joint decision-making. As clear as that point of view is, the use of this development model in Guyana has triggered severe criticism. Risk-transfer from the public sector to the private sector, identified in a study published by the Commonwealth Secretariat as the key element in a public-private partnership, appears to be missing in several high-profile projects in Guyana. Analysts have identified this factor as a major weakness in such projects as the Berbice River Bridge, the Marriott Hotel project, the expansion of Guyana’s international airport and the stillborn Amaila Falls hydropower project. The lopsided application of this concept in Guyana has left the impression that public participation is often more anxious to proceed with action than private participation. Not only has this disposition led to accusations of incompetence, it has also led to missed opportunities for a wider application of the public-private partnership methodology.
Potential benefits
The rationale for using the public-private partnership model of development stems from several factors. The reason cited most often is the lack of funds by the public sector to carry out the many public works that are needed to keep the wheels of industry going and to meet the consumption and leisure demands of households. When governments alone have to undertake the public investment, it turns to taxpayers to raise money or to capital markets or bilateral and multilateral lenders to borrow the funds. Raising revenues to meet many deserving needs that compete with each other is not easy. Taxation means shifting money from potential private investment or consumption to pubic use and it encounters resistance when taxpayers feel overburdened and they cannot see the benefits to themselves. The alternative is to
