From what ive read, consumers are definitely not the beneficiaries in such arrangements. Why do governments do this then? Why give up ownership and control of vital stuff (e.g. water, utilities, highways, etc.) to private – and often – foreign entities?
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Sometimes it’s done due to a conflict of interest for the Government to regulate itself. Owning the utility company means the government is managing the operations while having to regulate these operations, which usually means poor enforcement of the regulations or inadequate regulations.
For example, government owning waste management services. The regulations set fees and fines/penalties. The government entity has to manage disposal practices, fine itself and collect the fine from itself, if for some reason one of its trucks breaches the requirements.
It often means the quality of service and management in general rarely improves because there’s not a separate body with oversight.
It would be more practical and advantageous for the quality of service, if private entities were providing the service and the government entity focused on regulating the operations of these entities.
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