The Privatization Paradox: Efficiency vs. Access

For most of us, quality is always what we are after instead of quantity. I remember writing about how I prefer private hospitals over public ones because of the quality services they offer. But the price for this is the high cost I have to bear per every visit.

About ten years ago, Ghana experienced serious load shedding for so long and this was because the office in charge of managing electricity supply in the country wasn’t working up to task. This office was run by the government just like others offices which provide basic services for the general Ghanaian population. Ghanaians suffered so much due to this issue and as for business owners, most of them run at a loss.

To solve this issue, the government eventually had to give out the office to a private institution for sale so they could manage it. Ghanaians were totally against it because they knew the price of electricity was going to skyrocket. Eventually, we all had to come to terms with it and accept the change for the better and as we expected, electricity bills rose to the roof but we had 24 hour supply of electricity on the daily basis.

One main advantage of public institutions is that most of the services are subsidized as the government wishes to provide the average citizen with their basic needs. Private institutions on the other hand are mostly out for profit and would do anything to get that. Aside that, they are most likely to provide you the best of services in return for what you give them. In Ghana where I come from, public institutions on the other hand are most likely not to offer quality services. The corruption in such offices is just too much and some the civil servants don’t even know what they’re up to. So you can imagine the kind of services being offered to people on the daily basis.

In my point of view, if stuff like roads, water supply and basic needs of the average citizen were to be privatized, trust me, most of us won’t be able to afford a decent life due to the cost. We’d work our lives away trying to acquire the most basic things. On the other hand, if such stuff were to be privatized, we’d be assured of quality services and products at all times. But would we be able to afford it, most likely not.

With the issue of the electricity in Ghana, I’d like to believe the government had to buy back the electricity company because the rates were too high for citizens. Most of these stuff are made to be state owned so that we the people of the country can also live comfortably in the very least while also benefiting from our tasks. This helps create a balance in the nation. Maybe , if the state put things in place, we’d be enjoying quality and affordable services just like other countries.

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HIVE POWER UP

It’s another month and another opportunity to power up and grow on the Hive ecosystem.

Today, I was able to power up 13 hive summing up my Hive power from 3057 to 3070. I look forward to powering up and growing in the subsequent months.
If you haven’t powered up yet, you should!
Happy #HPUD

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