MrSpeaker, thank you very much for theopportunity to associate myself with theMotion ably moved by the Hon DeputyMinister for Finance, that the PublicPrivate Partnership Bill, 2016 be now reada Second time. I believe that, the policyprinciple informing the decision tolegislate on it is followed by the fact that,Cabinet in 2011, gave policy approval forpublic private partnership. Therefore,this Bill seeks to give legal support to thepolicy so approved. Mr Speaker, we are told that, globally,and in Ghana, there is an infrastructuredeficit of US$ 2 billion per annum. Everyother year, the deficit in terms of how muchwe require to build a robust infrastructure,which is important to stimulate economicgrowth and allow for the delivery of publicgoods and services is in the region of US$2 billion. As rightly pointed out in thememorandum, there are fiscal constraintsand these fiscal constraints are that,Government is not able to provide for allthese infrastructure. Therefore, it isreaching out to the private sector whichwould be supportive. Now, we would need a legal framework. Mr Speaker, I have two issues to raise,one is procurement. It is establishedglobally that, the most veritable source ofcorruption in the world is procurementwithin the public processes. Therefore, aswe give meaning to this Bill, we shouldstrengthen the procurement role of thisparticular entity to ensure, first,
Mr Speaker, I may give three practicalexamples. For instance, today, the countryhas an energy deficit in terms of powerand power generation. We need indepen-dent power producers (IPPs) thatobviously are private sector players. So,they would come under the ambit of a PPP.How do they build in order that theycontribute to our energy mix but areassured of affordable, realistic rate in termsof utility tariffs that would encourage themto invest more in that particular sector? Mr Speaker, I could also give theexample of the roads sector. For instance,if we would want to dualise the Accra-Kumasi or Accra-Takoradi Road, we maybe looking up to a private entity whichwould come in with Government to buildthat road. But Mr Speaker, what we havenot done in this country, to which onewould encourage the Ministry of Financeand other infrastructure Ministries, is toset up viable and functional roadinfrastructure. Many of us have travelled. When onegoes to the United States of America(USA) driving between New York and NewJersey, one pays road tolls. Some of theroad tolls are used to service some of whatwould go into this investment. That is whyit is such an important Bill that this Housemust support. Apart from the road infrastructure,maybe, we should be cautious when itcomes to social services, probably, in thearea of water. In other areas like housing,we can also cure a major national problemthrough a PPP. How do we provideaffordable housing scheme, either forteachers or for workers? This is animportant Bill.
Mr Speaker, may I refer you to page 17of the Bill, even though we would dojustice to it when we get to theConsideration Stage. I am surprised that,the sponsoring Ministry is the Ministryof Finance which talks about theestablishment of a PPP fund; to do whatand for what purpose? We do not need a fund for this. Whatwe need is a relationship betweenGovernment and private sector personswho are providing for an investment ininfrastructure. We do not need a PPP fund.What are they going to do with that fund?I believe when we get there -- I can understand that, it is incorporatedin the Bill, but I am unconvinced that, weneed to set up a PPP fund. No! What weare looking for is that -- Mr Speaker, thisis very important because, investors havelong been looking for this opportunity. I had the privilege to travel with thePresident on many of his investment tours,and many of them said that, beyondpolicy, we need a legal framework thatwould govern the relationship betweenthe private sector and the public sector.We do have genuine difficulties with theestablishment of the Fund. Mr Speaker, my second concern is theAgency. What agency? When we cometo the Long Title, we would seek toimprove it, but the policy principle whichis Cabinet approval of a policy on PPPcannot be overemphasised. I would urge Hon Members to supportthis, and say we give a legal framework tosupport the policy that we have soapproved. There are many areas of ournational economy. It has been proved thatthe private sector is more efficient thanthe public one. What we need is tomanage the cost that would be associatedwith it.
Again, to encourage the Ministry ofFinance; in feasibility studies. Forinstance, I am aware that they are doing aurology project at Korle Bu TeachingHospital, which is being funded by theprivate sector. On the basis of thefeasibility, we should be able to know thevalue of what goes into this project. Mr Speaker, I believe that, what isimportant is ensuring value for money,openness and competitiveness that allprivate sector players, regardless ofwhether they are national or external toour economy, have a free room in order tooperate in the environment. But we must check the value for moneyand ensure more transparency. With these few words, Mr Speaker, Isupport the Motion. Thank you.
