Introduction
A disaster is an unforeseen incident that befalls a society or an individual causing damages or loss of lives, and goes behold the capacity to intervene using community resources. In this case, a disaster can be in different forms, including droughts, hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, and volcanic eruptions. Therefore, a society or an individual needs to be always prepared for any eventuality that may pose a threat unexpectedly. In this regard, small business administration has established a plan that ensures agency available resources are provided and integrated with the federal government to support the disaster victims. During such times, contracting opportunities and access to capital and business training are essential (Fang et al., 2019). Some of the development issues arising where private-public partnership exists include the construction of infrastructures like roads, schools and hospitals, however, the partnership may lead to slow development of some areas and also poor service delivery. The paper aims at analyzing the characteristics of public and private partners concerning disaster, their advantages and disadvantages, and the government’s role in disaster control.
Characteristics of Private-Public Partnership
The private-public partnership is critical in achieving recovery efforts by facilitating large-scale government projects during and after a disaster. Such ventures include; the building and completion of roads, hospitals, and bridges on time and within the budget. In this kind of partnership, there has to be a mutual relationship in coordination. In addition, there is a need to share both the profits and losses to overcome such occurrences. Again, there has to be an organizational arrangement between the players in a private-public partnership to enhance the deal. In most cases, alliances are formed around organizational structures to make coordination more accessible and secure shared risks and profits (Fang et al., 2019). Management of a disaster is usually seen as a big problem for society due to its severity and frequency.
Role of Government in Handling Disasters
In developing countries, the role of disaster management by the government varies significantly. Some functions are associated with the central government, including drafting and strengthening regulation policies for mitigating disasters. The approach creates awareness and readiness among and within communities for effective response and recovery. The government is also responsible for allocating funds to reduce disasters and preparedness programs. During a catastrophe, more attention is given to the government because of knowing the conditions, cultures, and communities.
In developed countries, a disaster is strategically managed by the private-public partnership. It has been proven to be an excellent remedy to the modern public authority and some tough decisions like the management of disasters. For instance, in the U.S, there is a U.S National Flood Insurance Program introduced in 1968 to promote the involvement of insurance industries in offering coverage for flood policies. In this program, the U.S government assumes all risks and eventually has the insurance firms taking on risk-bearing. Moreover, in a country like France, the insurers are under the mandate to offer disaster insurance cover for all risks possible alongside property insurance; this is again reinsured through a publicly administrated fund (Lallemant et al. 2021). The government also contributes when the fund is insufficient. For this reason, business properties and individuals in France are covered by insurance programs.
Therefore, insurance is a good tool in financing disasters, although it is not mandatory and expensive to acquire by low-income earners. For this reason, the government must amend some regulations which favor everyone during disaster management. This can be done by ensuring the establishment of the necessary disaster insurance policy program for everybody, just like in a developed country like France.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Private-Public Partnership
In situations where private-public partnership exists, some issues are likely to arise also affecting the community, like the prohibition on the service delivery to the informal settlement. The responsible partners can argue that the illegal accommodation does not allow development in such areas because of the uncertainty of tenure. Some of the payments are migrant workers with no clear documentation (Schrecongost et al., 2019). The law may prohibit service delivery to those unable to prove their originality or authenticate a local residency approval (Schrecongost et al., 2019). However, in jurisdictions with flexible laws, citizens that have resided in a particular place for a long time can claim a right to be regarded as members of the settlement.
In addition, an argument may be based on a constitutional right to equal access to existing services. A perfect example of this is seen in the ruling made by the Bombay High Court granting freedom of access to water to everyone, including those in informal settlements in Mumbai. However, this kind of permission is unpopular; hence for the same to be applicable in other countries, the government in the respective countries will require to review the regulations concerning the illegal settlements. In this case, it is essential to grant these people the right since they reside within the country. This is because they contribute to the per capita income and the country’s GDP through the regulation of government policies.
Inappropriate engineering and quality standards are other issues that are likely to arise in scenarios when there is a partnership between the private and public sectors. In this case, partners are entrusted with significant projects in the communities due to adopting standards used in other developed countries without possibly considering the relevance to local use by the poor (Nguyen & Phu Nguyen, 2019). For instance, there could be a requirement for water and sanitation pipes to be dug at specific distances and depths below the ground in cold countries to reduce the risk of pipes bursting during winter seasons.
This may be relevant in such countries but is considered irrelevant in developing countries with warmer temperatures and is charged highly instead of minimizing the expenditure to create other vital sectors. In addition, other instances may be when a poor customer requires a different level of service from that allowed by the law (Nguyen & Phu Nguyen, 2019). For example, a low voltage source of power is less expensive and may meet the demands of society but may be prohibited under the rules and regulations. Therefore, the standards will likely increase the infrastructure budget and unnecessary new connections (Nguyen & Phu Nguyen, 2019). It is wise for the government to reconsider and amend the rules of such imported measures. Through this, they will be able to save much and channel the extra money into developing other parts.
A monopoly of service provision is another essential aspect that arises when private and public partnerships exist. This occurs when poor customers in the informal and inaccessible settlements are sometimes not privileged to get supply by a formal provider with water or electricity (Nguyen & Phu Nguyen, 2019). As a result, they are forced to buy some services from alternative unauthorized providers. Such providers usually form cartels that have effects of monopoly, making it hard for others to enter the industry.
In many instances where recognized official services providers are, laws are put in place for their protection. This grants monopoly power in an area, thereby outlawing the other alternative service providers (Moszoro, 2018). The alternative suppliers often are prevented from operating without the authorized providers having connected these areas to the infrastructure. As much as there is a tangible reason to grant monopoly power to a particular service provider, the law should be considered. This allows limited competition from the alternative providers of service where the incumbent service provider is not providing any service or poor services are realized until a formal connection or the service provider is addressed. The practice may also be applicable in the transport sector to encourage competition to meet the requirements of the poor in terms of the amount they pay (Moszoro, 2018). Therefore, it would be necessary if the regulations on granting monopoly powers were revised to avoid the situations of no or poor service provision.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is clear that in the event partnership, there are benefits associated with this kind of arrangement, like in the case of developed counties such as the U.S and France. The latter has an insurance policy program that ensures all properties and citizens are insured by the insurance industry, making compensation easier in case of a disaster. Despite these benefits, there are also some disadvantages associated with the partnership. In this regard, the prohibition of service delivery to the informal settlements on the ground of not having legal proof of residence is a perfect example. This is considered unlawful even though the residents contribute to the county’s GDP. In addition, the partnership propagates inappropriate engineering quality standards when adopting methods that are irrelevant to some areas. It is also evident that partnership contributes to granting monopoly powers, leading to providing poor or no services to other places. Therefore, it can be concluded that the government, in their collaboration, should review some of these regulations to address such situations.
References
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