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Mr Rashid Pelpuo, Minister of State-in-Charge of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) on Wednesday advised Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to seek technical advice from the PPP Secretariat before engaging in any agreement with the private sector on the concept. "Do not be in a hurry in signing an agreement with the private sector, without thinking through it, understanding it or being in favour of the community," he added. Mr Pelpuo was speaking during the opening of a three-day workshop organised by the Local Government Service Secretariat for key staff of MMDAs on the importance of PPP and its relevance to the development of their various Districts and Municipalities. PPPs usually leverage public resources with private sector resources and expertise, in order to close the infrastructure gap and deliver efficient public infrastructure and services. He said before any PPP project would commence, MMDAs should make sure, they conduct feasibility studies to understand how Districts would benefit from such projects because PPP arrangements were conceptual agreements between two entities and bonded by law. Mr Pelpuo said the Central government itself has been embarking on a number of PPP projects and it was important managers of the local government system were encouraged to do same to provide the needed infrastructural development. He said the legal framework on PPPs was currently being done and when completed the concept would be fully backed by law. He expressed the hope that by the end of the workshop participants would be equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills on how to handle issues regarding PPPs. Mr Joseph Dasanah, the Chief Director at the Local Government Service Secretariat, said as a result of rapid urbanization and the dwindling resources, most MMDAs faced enormous challenges in their bid to provide the needs of their people. He said PPP arrangement maybe seen to be the panacea of the financial constraints on MMDAs due to competing demands from the citizenry for quality service delivery. He said it was on these basis that the Service was organising the workshop to brief key actors of the Regional coordinating council and MMDAs on the prospects of the PPP, which was a vehicle for development.