Note: Dr. Charles Kick, noted community development and natural resource management consultant, has emailed his comment to my post on PPP. Dr. Kick has a long track record as development professional in the Pacific, including working as Regional Advisor for UN-ESCAP. I will reproduce here his comment as another post while we work on having real-time comments posted on our blogspot.
Thanks, Nes.
It's a good idea.
But for me, I comment where I do not need to sign up, etc.
In keeping with that, here is my note on "PPP":
"PPP" has been around a long, long, time--even though
it was not called PPP. In the RP, the health insurance
coops and coop-run municipal markets are examples of public-private
partnerships that started more than twenty years ago.
Moreover, PPP is an overly marketed concept. That is not to
say that it is wrong, merely that there is too often more marketing
(sound bites) than substance. It is important to be aware of this
because PPP has quite significant risks.
I, for one, am wary about PPP because democracy works when people
are involved. I have read of some of PPP's extremes (almost all
of a city's services--including its courts--out-sourced) and winced:
There isn't much room for the people to be involved with such
extensive contracts. When people have less need to be involved,
it becomes easier for society to get on track for a return to the
paternalistic-monarchial forms of government-and feudalism.
I am also wary because PPP is marketed from the top--by people
with an interest in it being adapted. This makes it hard for
decision-makers to get unbiased, objective, assessments.
Charles
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