The Success of PPP in transportation infrastructures in Sri Lanka : reflections from the case study of Queen Elizabeth Quay of Colombo Harbor

Abstract

Public Private Partnership (PPP) is a popular concept accepted worldwide for the provision of infrastructure in a country. It is an arrangement where both the public and the private sector committed jointly towards common goals that are determined by themselves. There are various options within PPP Procurement System, and the decision on which PPP Option to be selected is varied from case to case. Even though PPP Procurement System is popular in other countries in developing of Economic infrastructure, in Sri Lankan context the success has not been highlighted. As per the available literature, only eight projects of PPP have been successful so far and out of those, seven are from the power sector. The remaining project is from the transport sector, with the scope of developing, operating and maintaining the Queen Elizabeth Quay of Colombo Harbor (QEQ). The purpose of this research was to identify the success factors that helped the successful implementation of the said only project in the transport sector. By referring various relevant literatures, a large number of individual factors could be found. For this research those individual factors were combined carefully to make 16 factors that will determine the success or failure of an economic infrastructure project implemented under PPP procurement system. Failure factors were considered as negative side of the success factors. This research found that ten out of those sixteen factors, viz. competent private sector providers; measurable output/outcome specifications; developed legal/ regulatory /fiscal/economic framework; sufficient time to plan and procure through PPP, compatible goals, acceptance; credibility and transparency; PPP structure; existing infrastructure; and selecting the right project as critical success factors for this QEQ project. The balance six critical factors viz manageable interfaces with other projects or existing contracts; avoiding delays and cost overruns; feasibility study; political stability and support; environmental impact statement; and favorable inflation, exchange rate, and interest rates were found not to be critical towards the success of the QEQ project. Keywords:Public Private Partnership, Critical Success Factors, Queen Elizabeth uay.