EFFECTS OF PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP ON SERVICE DELIVERY.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The success of any government lies not just in the volume of its policies but rather the extent to which the policies have been implemented. Nigeria, over the years is characterized by large number of abandoned or uncompleted projects, and where completed they are greatly substandard. Public utilities and industries mostly perform below optimum levels revenues generated and or remitted are grossly inadequate with a substantial portion going into private pockets due to corruption. It is in the light of this dismal performance of the public sector projects and services, the high cost of executing them and the attendant corruption and mismanagement that the Nigeria government ventured into various forms of partnership with the private sector with a view to ameliorating most of the problems associated with public projects and service delivery in Nigeria.
Public Private Partnership (PPP) is a sustained and long-term partnering relationship between the public and private sectors to provide services and goods. Through PPP, the public sector seeks to bring together the resources of the public sector and the technical expertise of the private sectors to provide services and goods to the public at the best value for money (Ministry of Finance, Singapore, 2009). Traditionally, the public sector has tended to engage the private sector merely to construct facilities or supply equipment. The public agencies will then own and operate the facilities or equipment or engage separate maintenance and operations companies to operate the facilities and equipment to deliver the services to the public (Oyedele, 2012). PPP is born based on the fact that government provision of goods and services should not only lay emphasis on finance but on the quality of goods and services. “Managerially, modernization emphasizes a shift from a focus on inputs to a concern with outcomes – providing services is no longer a sufficient justification for state intervention, it must create added public value (Oyedele, 2012). There is a more open-minded approach to service procurement, and no presumption that in-house provision is always the best option (Hood and McGarvey, 2002) Public Private Partnership is a contractual arrangement which is formed between public and private sector partners which involve the private sector in the development, financing, ownership, and or operation of a public facility or service. In such a partnership, public and private resources are pooled and responsibilities divided so that the partners’ efforts are complementary. Public-Private partnerships relate to perceptions and practices affecting public private sector relationships in ensuring global health, development and well-being of the society, and the conceptual aspects of such relationships, including the role of the key players in collaborating to make these partnerships successful or otherwise (Aribigbola, 2008). The acceptance of public private partnerships should be based on mutual benefits and not intended to benefit the investors at the expense of the local citizens. This explains why countries like Hong Kong are very skeptical on PPP. Although most forms of PPP involve a contractual relationship between the public and private parties, the long-term nature of these contracts creates a strong long-term mutuality of interest (Kee and Forrer, 2012). PPPs are not just a step in the procurement process; given their long-term nature, they differ from traditional procurement contracts, which often are associated with a short-term “claims culture.” Early evidence of operational contracts in more mature PPP programs shows that in many cases the parties can recognize this mutuality of interest without adversely affecting the mechanisms in the formal contract that determine performance (Cheung, and Chan, 2011).Infrastructure development in democratic governance is more challenging because of the accessibility of people to government and involves identifying the right project, carrying out feasibility and viability studies and embarking on physical development of the project. The challenges are numerous and include finance, technology for development, maintenance and design. The numerous challenges have not been tackled as they should. Nigeria’s lack of basic infrastructure to facilitate sustainable development and trade – both regionally and globally – and to ensure competitiveness is already known by all. In particular, for the large number of local governments, especially the rural ones, the dwellers produce have no access to markets and are not stored, hampered by weak transport and energy infrastructure. Based on this assertion, this research is been done to unearth and unveil the state of PPP in Nigeria and also evaluate the Effects of Public Private Partnership(PPP) in Service Delivery with a special reference to the Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA).
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The major objective of this study will be to assess the Effects of Public Private Partnership in Service Delivery. While other specific objectives of the study are:
1.To investigate if there is any significant relationship between Public Private Partnershipand service delivery.
2.To determine the effect of government partnership with the Private sector in service delivery.
3.To find out if public private initiative promote efficiency in public service.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This study will be guided be the following research questions:
1.Is there any significant relationship between Public Private Partnership and service delivery?
2.What is the impact of government partnership with the Private sector on service delivery?
3.Is there any significant relationship between public private initiative and efficiency in public service?
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
The researcher intends to test the following hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance:
Hypothesis 1:
Ho: There is no significant relationship between Public Private Partnership and service delivery.
HI:There is a significant relationship between Public Private Partnership and service delivery.
Hypothesis 2:
Ho: Government partnership with the Private sector has no effect on service delivery.
HI: Government partnership with the Private sector has an effect on service delivery.
Hypothesis 3:
Ho: There is no significant relationship between public private initiative and efficiency in public service.
HI: There is a significant relationship between public private initiative and efficiency in public service.