As part of its mandate to expedite the delivery of enabling infrastructure throughout the Eastern Cape, the Coega Development Corporation (CDC) has partnered with the Eastern Cape Department of Health (EC DoH) to assist in the tender processes for the upgrade and construction of several healthcare facilities in the province.

This formed part of the CDC Service Business Unit, which was established following a resolution in 2009 to leverage on the CDC’s in-house skills base to develop priority areas identified by the Eastern Cape government.

It had since extended these services to KwaZulu-Natal, the organisation said.

In its role as implementing agent, the CDC would take the project from implementation to completion, while reporting to the EC DoH and working within its structures.

The CDC’s role would include feasibility studies, planning and execution and project and tender management.

The corporation’s involvement would extend to the largest project yet embarked on by the EC DoH – the Cecilia Makiwane Hospital upgrade project, which would involve the demolition of the existing facility and its recon- struction into a 600-bed hospital providing healthcare and specialised services.

“The project includes the decommissioning of the existing facility, the commissioning of the new facility and the acquisition of new equipment and furniture, along with the construction of a main hospital complex,” CDC marketing and communications manager Ayanda Vilikazi said. It

would also involve the construction of a service block for support services, a mental health hospital, a nursing college for 1 500 students, accommodation for 900 students, staff accommodation and recreational facilities.

The CDC has also issued a tender for the construction of new casualty and paediat- rics wards, as well as additional infrastruc- ture, at Frontier Hospital, in Queenstown.

It would oversee the tender process aspart of its mandate to meet provincial socio- economic development goals.

Further, the corporation has issued a request for bids for the supply, installation, delivery, commissioning and maintenance of medical equipment and furniture for the critical care unit of Frere Hospital, in East London.

The hospital is undergoing an upgrade aligned with the provincial healthcare infrastructure upgrade imperatives.

In addition to its healthcare partnership, the CDC Services programme includes, managing the Roads Enterprise Development Programme (REDP) and school buildings projects in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal on behalf of the Department of Education.

The REDP initiative, undertaken in partnership with the province’s Department of Roads and Public Works, will link the construction of roads in the Eastern Cape with the simultaneous training and development of small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs).

The enterprise development programme targets contractors, materials suppliers, quarry operators, plant hire, consultants and mech- anics on road infrastructure construction and maintenance in the region, with some 80% of the total road construction projects awarded to SMMEs over the past year.

In the current financial year, a total of R124-million has been paid to SMMEs and just over R30-million to managing contractors.