Private-sector Participation (PSP) in the WASH sector – Don't Lose the Focus
Mixed outcomes from community management (CM) and its incapability for developing and managing hard WASH infrastructure ( Hutchings, 2015 ), a WASH solution in the long term or in many densely populated urban areas, has led to the embracement of PSP ( Golooba-Mutebi, 2012 ). Fig.1 from Professor Page 's (2023) lecture slides account in detail a typology of PSP, which ranges from the transfer of ownership to different forms of public-private partnership. Fig.1 : Classifying PSP . Supports of PSP argue that, with increased competition, PSP delivers higher-quality WASH services with lower costs, thus improving efficiency. Additionally, in search of future profits, private firms would be willing to invest in the WASH sector to compensate for the public-sector resource shortfall ( Adams et al., 2018 ; Kirkpatrick et al .) . Meanwhile, it also receives criticism. Instead of fostering competition, private firms often obtain monopoly power, resulting in...