With berths nearing the end of their life, the port of Miami wants to use a P3 to repair its cruise ship docks. The Florida county that oversees the port is not moving efficiently to line up a developer, highlighting wider issues with how local governments in the US approach P3s. Bianca Giacobone and Matt O’Brien investigate.
The Port of Miami in Florida advertises itself as the cruise capital of the world but many of the berths where cruise ships dock are in an advanced state of disrepair.
Miami-Dade County, which owns the port, is trying to line up a private developer to refurbish six of its nine operating cruise berths through a public-private partnership known as the North Bulkhead Reconstruction P3.
Government officials, though, are not running an optimal process to line up a developer to fix the corroding docks, according to several sources familiar with the project, who cite problems ranging from lack of information and communication to impossible-to-meet deadlines that have later been extended.
Sources warn a procurement that originally was estimated to cost USD 300m could end up costing hundreds of millions of dollars more.
To be sure, sources describe government officials in Miami-Dade as smart, hardworking and creative. But the county’s issues – despite individual efforts – highlight how a lack of universal guidelines for public-private partnerships in the US can leave government agencies to deal with complex infrastructure projects by themselves, often with poor outcomes.
Officials for Miami-Dade, which incorporates 34 municipalities, including the city of Miami, did not respond to requests for comment.