What I heard about the Public Private Partnership (PPP, or P3A) Conference in Aruba.
On paper it looked great, a UN conference coming to Aruba, dedicated to Private and Public sector partnerships, focusing on the journey ‘From Ideas to Reality.’ The conference, I hear, fell victim to its own focus, because its translation from idea to reality was less than perfect.
Originally we were told that heads of state and many international dignitaries were invited on the UN’s dime to come to Aruba. Then the UN changed its focus, cut the budget, and the ambitious program was downsized. My friends who attended say it was an interesting conference with about 20 speakers and good panel discussions; only the audience was not there. They forgot to invite one. Yes, organizers flew by the seat of their pants, last minute, forgetting to provide an audience for the P3A presenters.
The press, for once, did not get invitations, maybe it’s just me, so consequently the speakers gave detailed lectures, to an empty room. Alas, the social program was anemic too, and lacked a variety of networking opportunities.
While the conference was conceived big, it materialized minuscule!
IT’S JUST SANDS
Over the weekend I read on line about the new man-made sand dunes fringing the Malmok Salina. I went to look. It sort of looked cool. White clean sand. It was dug out in Eagle Beach on the site of O Condominium and was going to be stored behind the company’s Gold Coast Residence’s new club house. I do not see the outrage. I do not see the problem. I DO see the outrage and the problem at the bird sanctuary, but NOT on Malmokweg. How could while sand possibly hurt the Salina? The bulldozer on the other hand at the Bird Sanctuary, that’s irreversible damage.
