While it was no longer expected, the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Bill has finally been voted in Parliament. The legislation aiming at providing a framework for the public-private partnership is thus born. Its ancestor, the Concession Projects Act (CPA) set up by the former government, was abandoned by the present regime in 2001. Until now, nothing had filled the gap.

The voting of the PPP, although shyly contested by the opposition, has been most welcomed. This type of partnership has worldwide recognition and exists in many countries such as England, Ireland or Germany.

The State has had to draw from public funds to finance some important projects during the past years while the private sector was interested in investing in those same projects. This new measure should help reduce the budget deficit the country has had to face but it should also be an incentive for investment from the private sector.

The operator will be the one to take all the risks – financial or else. He will then be paid either by the public or through a compensation from a public source or by a combination of both formulas.

The new legislation has exactly the same objective as its predecessor: facilitate joint projects between public and private sectors to limit high investment by the State. The prime minister, Paul Bérenger, when he presented it to the Assembly, insisted on the fact that the main characteristic of the law should be transparency.

This gave rise to a more tense atmosphere between government and opposition since the PM pointed out that there was no such transparency with the CPA. The opposition leader, Navin Ramgoolam, had said that this law was lacking transparency. The deputy prime minister, Pravind Jugnauth, said that all the gaps the former law contained had been filled with the new one.

The private sector will not be able to decide whether they are interested in a project. Only the government will have the prerogative of deciding whether a project should be submitted to such a partnership.

Likewise, private companies wishing to participate in a project should first answer an invitation to tender from the Central Tender Board. Finally, there should be a serious feasibility study before deciding if a project should be under the PPP regime.

Finally, after some “missed” attempts from the opposition to criticise the project, Navin Ramgoolam finally said that there was consensus on the issue and the bill was voted. This earned him warm thanks from the prime minister.