Despite all the efforts made so far, the development of public private partnerships in Malta remains slow but the government is now embarking upon a fresh drive in the hope of striking new deals.
Up to now, only two partnerships come readily to mind – a consortium that takes care of the landscape in a number of strategic places, including roundabouts, and the running of homes for the elderly. Both partnerships are doing a good job.
Intent on making headway, the government has now set up a new organisation called Projects Malta in a bid to give fresh impetus to the drive. In doing so, it appears to be taking the work done by a specialised unit within Malta Investments and Management Company (Mimcol) to a higher level.
At one time, this unit was said to be evaluating no fewer than 30 public private partnership possibilities in lines that included the road network, public transport, education, healthcare, urban regeneration, solar energy, social housing, coastal protection and water and waste treatment. How many of these have fallen by the wayside?
Public transport, which has been the cause of so many headaches over the years, is now in the hands of a new company which, like its predecessor, is being heavily subsidised. The service run by Arriva had not met the people’s expectations and it is too early to judge the performance of the new company.
When Projects Malta was launched, Joseph Muscat was reported as saying the new organisation would create new opportunities, build on the country’s economic growth and ensure that services were delivered efficiently.
There can be no guarantee that a service is run more efficiently if it is managed by a public private partnership or, for that matter, by a private or public company. For example, many hold that the postal service and billing service for water and electricity were run more efficiently when they were in the hands of government departments.
Like the unit that operated within Mimcol, Projects Malta is prepared to consider any project for public private partnership. It is even willing to consider services traditionally associated with the public sector. The first project expected to come on stream is Trade Malta, to be run jointly by the government and the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry.
However, Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi announced that other partnerships under consideration would involve projects in infrastructure, connectivity between the Three Cities and Sliema as well as the regeneration of dilapidated sites.
One area where there is a crying need for a public private partnership is the maintenance of public places. The need is so huge that there is clearly a case for the creation of more than one partnership. Local councils are supposed to be taking care of their patch, although some fail to do this rigorously. Places outside their immediate jurisdiction often end up being neglected.
Just as the landscape consortium has made a good impact on the image of the places for which it is responsible, public private partnerships that are charged with taking care of the maintenance in public places could finally rid Malta of its unkempt image.
When the island depends so much on tourism, it would be most proper and also highly beneficial to Malta if Projects Malta were to give some priority to the promotion, embellishment and upkeep of certain areas.
Of course, since such partnerships make use of public funds, they should ideally also follow the transparency and accountability norms that apply to all government and public companies.