Public goods, can they be provided privately?

The article in "El Pais" (link to original article in Spanish as enclosure and link to translated article in the tittle) talks about the lack of security in the Pacific Coast of Colombia. Small boats who take passengers to the islands surround the bay of Buenaventura are constantly being assaulted by armed groups who take people's money and belongings and sometimes hurt or kill passengers. Boat owners and drivers are asking the local government to provide security for the bay in order for them to be able to navigate safely.

The security of the bay of Buenaventura is a public good; it is non-rival in consumption and it is non-excludable. If the state were to provide security, all the boats would be able to navigate safely and if one boat navigates it does not take a different boat's safety away. According to Samuelson and the traditional theory of public goods, if the state does not provide security security for the harbor will not be provided privately due to the free rider problem.

However, in the case of the bay of Buenaventura the state is not providing security. According to Buchanan, the boat owners and drivers will enter into a voluntary exchange and reach an agreement to pay for security at the bay. The people in this community cannot count on a central government in order to reach the best solution. People have different interests (some might have boats for tourism, others might fish, or others might take goods to sell at the different islands) and these interests will lead them to reach the best solution: privately provide security for the harbor.

Another way to view this dilemma of public goods is through Tiebout. One possibility is that consumer-voters have revealed their preferences (they want security) and the government needs to adjust (supported by Samuelson). In this case this is clearly not happening. Thus, the alternative, as proposed by Tiebout, is that each locality provides a different revenue-expenditure pattern and consumer-voters adapt to this. Boat owners and drivers and chose to move to the Atlantic Coast where security is provided by the state.

So, consumer-voters can either move and thus chose their preferred revenue expenditure pattern or they can get into a voluntary exchange to agree to provide security privately.