PRESIDENT Benigno Simeon Aquino III proposed that the public sector enter into business partnership with the private investors in order to lessen the financial burden on the government.

This was his immediate solution to the near-empty national coffers that can no longer afford to provide or expand the traditional social services that government provides.

What is interesting here is his call, or urging, for the local governments to maximize the participation of the private sector in providing these social services.

It has been shown time and again that the private sector is more efficient than government. This is due to the lack of financial exposure of government officials in the government business that can go kaput and all that they will lose is their job. If they are career officials, they can just transfer to another office.

We have many instances of this partnership. We have the Bacolod slaughterhouse that is efficient, modern and sanitary compared to the old pre-World War II butcher house that has become so unsanitary that a look at the place will already make one foreswear eating meat.

Now we have a modern slaughterhouse using modern and humane methods of killing animals. In the past, cattle were killed by striking and cracking their skulls with a sledgehammer. Sometimes it takes three or four strike before the animal dies on its knees.

Garbage collection in Bacolod can be privatized as in Davao. There had been proposals of this nature in the past and the Sangguniang Panlungsod has two resolutions authorizing Mayor Evelio Leonardia to initiate this project.

Previously, there were proposals from the private sector to contract the city’s garbage collection, but nothing came out of them. The question was how much and the city could not afford the asking price more than its annual budget for garbage collection.

This mind set or reason must change because not only is the present garbage collection inefficient but a lot of garbage cannot be collected.

This simply means that under the present budget and system the collection of the city’s garbage cannot be fully covered. The result is a lot of garbage in the barangays that cannot be collected everyday. Some of them remain eyesores, played with and eaten by maggots for days.

While this proposed scheme by President Aquino is a step in the right direction especially in encouraging the local governments to enter these arrangements, there are also risks.

The most difficult part is getting the right partner, as in all things. We must avoid awarding them to favor individuals or groups who are for the profit and not for public service. There are many instances like this — in the South Luzon Expressway, Maynilad, the MRT, etc.

It would be fruitful, though, to try them in Bacolod starting with garbage collection and traffic management. The provincial government can even contract the Provincial Jail management to a private company since it is opening a new jail in Brgy. Tabuanan, Bago City./PN