COEGA’S trend-setting construction villages, which are the equivalent of a three-star hotel, have opened for business and the first tenants have begun moving in. This follows the signing of a R250-million contract for the management of the two construction villages by the Coega Development Corporation (CDC) and ESS Coega over the next five years. The contract is the largest that the CDC has awarded since the implementation phase of the development took off last year. ESS Coega is an empowerment joint venture between Western Region Women’s Investment Ltd and Eurest Support Services (ESS). ESS is a division of the Compass Group, which is the largest food service company in the world. The Coega Construction villages at Wells Estate and Joorst Park are among the best in the world, according to Mike Davies, chief operating officer for ESS in the SADC region. They offer the equivalent of three-star accommodation, with the recreation and other facilities being “much higher than three-star,” he says. Skilled contractor staff for the Coega industrial development zone construction and key personnel of investors will be able to stay at the villages for a night or “for two years or more,” says Pinky Nkanunu of the Western Region Women’s Investment Company (WRWIC). They will be served three meals a day – one of which may be on site in the Coega IDZ and will have full access to the recreational and other facilities, which include squash courts, swimming pools, a gymnasium, an internet café, a library and tennis courts. The CDC is ensuring that the benefits of the villages are enjoyed by businesses in the metro, and that they promote empowerment and skills transfer, says executive manager zone operations Khwezi Tiya. “Everyone will benefit from the villages,” he says. For the people working on site at Coega, the villages offer a far superior lifestyle to the more usual caravans and mobile homes that are seen at construction sites. “One of our focus areas at Coega is on human dignity. We do not believe it is right that people should have to live under those kinds of conditions at a world-class project like Coega,” says Tiya. The villages will also help attract top-quality skills to the metro as Coega will be recognised as one of the best places to work in the world, he adds. Contractors and investors will be the winners because their key staff will be housed in safe and comfortable surroundings on the boundary of the IDZ. ESS Coega project director Stuart Dixon says phase one can accommodate 1 600 people, which will rise to 6000 when all three phases of the village at Wells Estate have been completed. There has been a strong empowerment element from the start of construction of both the Coega Construction Village at Wells Estate and the upgrading of Joorst Park Construction Village. Seventeen emerging building companies were involved in the project, with contracts ranging between R500 000 and R3-million. Six of the construction companies are headed by women. Nkanunu says women will continue to benefit from the villages. Members of the WRWIC are also involved in small-scale farming of vegetables and chickens through the Nelson Mandela Metro’s “ploughing fields” project. Fresh produce for the villages will be sourced from these farmers. The villages have the potential of absorbing most of their output, according to Davies. “When the villages are operating at their peak, we estimate that we will consume three tons of chickens a day,” he says. Further opportunities for the emerging farmers are presented by the main kitchen for the preparation of meals for workers on the Coega site, which is situated in the Wells Estate village. All workers on site receive a free lunch-pack. Emerging contractors are also providing services to the villages such as laundry, gardening and cleaning. Dixon says they aim to procure over 80 per cent of goods and services locally, while more than 84 per cent of the people on the payroll will be from historically disadvantaged groups. Over 300 jobs have been created in the first phase of the project, while about 7000 jobs in total have been created in the entire Coega Project, covering the deepwater port and IDZ construction sites since August 2002.