Introduction
Last week, we discussed the Privatisation Policy Framework Paper that was prepared in 1993 to guide the privatization that the Government had embarked on in 1988 as part of the Economic Recovery Programme entered into with International Monetary Fund.
We had concluded that the Paper is still relevant and useful, considering the privatisation activities currently being undertaken in respect of GUYSUCO. However, given that most of the State-owned Entities identified in the for privatisation have already been divested, it may be useful for the Paper to be revised to reflect the policy of the present Administration and its priorities as regards future privatisation, taking into account lessons learned from past privatisation activities.
In today article, we discuss another topic which is closely related to privatization. We refer to Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) which the Government has indicated that it wishes to embark on. On 26 April 2018, the Minister of Finance tabled a Public-Private Policy Framework Paper in the National Assembly. The Paper identifies the following projects that are being considered for P3: Demerara Harbour Bridge; Linden-Lethem road link; deep water harbour and container port; hydro plants and energy farms; plantation agriculture; modernising and dredging of Port Georgetown; milk plant; information technology; and agro-industrial and small manufacturing arks.