Media statement
For immediate release
16 November 2021
Kouga Wind Farm Community Development Trust announces over R200m Community Development Plan.
The Kouga Wind Farm Community Development Trust aims to spend over R200 million over a five year period in the Kouga area in accordance with its Community Development Plan (CDP) which will be unveiled on Thursday the 25th of November 2021.
The trust holds a stake funded by the Industrial Development Corporation in the Kouga Wind Farm, a renewable energy project that is based in Oysterbay in the Eastern Cape. It receives dividends from the project and these are allocated annually to the development of the four beneficiary communities of the trust, namely Umzamowethu in Oysterbay, Sea Vista in St Francis Bay, as well as KwaNomzamo and Kruisfontein in Humansdorp.
Branded as the “3 in 5 strategy”, the CDP & Implementation plan include investment into community development programmes under the broad themes of education and skills development, welfare and humanitarian support, sports, arts, and recreation, enterprise development, healthcare, as well as conservation, environment, and animal welfare, as reflected in the Trust Deed.
In addition, the trust will upgrade dilapidated public facilities identified as potential assets by communities and build new amenities as requested during the development and implementation planning phases in recent years.
The plan was developed by action groups representing the four beneficiary communities under the guidance of the current Trust Administrators, Bophelo Impilo Development Centre (BIDC), and the first draft was completed in 2019, followed by an implementation plan the following year and call for proposals early in 2021.
Following an extensive due diligence process, projects amounting to just above R62 million have already started, including upgrades of science and computer labs in primary schools, introduction of robotics and coding as afterschool programmes in primary schools, deployment of community broadband, as well as education and development, sports, arts, and culture initiatives.
Upgrades to Early Childhood Development Centres in the various communities have also been undertaken by the trust along with the construction of a pedestrian pathway linking Sea Vista and St Francis Bay.
Several projects for which Service Level Agreements have been signed between the trust and community development organisations will be announced officially at the launch and there will be visits to selected sites hosting some of the projects currently underway.
The media are invited to cover the launch and site visits.
Ends.
Issued by Bophelo Impilo Development Centre on behalf of the Kouga Wind Farm Community Development Trust.
For more information, contact Zolisa Marawu on 041 205 0949 or operations@bidc.org.za