Applicability of public-private partnership to overcome the challenges encountered by public sector building projects in Sri Lanka.

Abstract

Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is a connection between public sector and private sector for a long duration with the aim of producing public services. PPP provides a mechanism for governments to bridge the supply-demand gap by developing new facilities in the construction industry. It is an extensive necessity for the Sri Lankan context due to the declining position in economic growth over the past years. Since PPP is already being practiced in Sri Lankan infrastructural projects, it is essential to investigate the ability of PPP to improve the public sector building projects (PSBP) in Sri Lanka (SL). An extensive literature synthesis was carried out to identify the PPP approaches and challenges encountered by PSBP. The challenges encountered by PSBP were validated and updated by conducting a semi-structured preliminary interview to comply with the Sri Lankan context. A questionnaire survey was conducted to identify the ability of PPP approaches to overcome the challenges in PSBP. Data analysis was done by conducting the Relative Important Index (RII) technique. The findings revealed that PPP has a high ability to overcome the challenges encountered by public sector building projects. Therefore PPP can be recommended as a procurement strategy for PSBP in SL.