Limpopo Transboundary Programme Development of a Community Public Private Partnership for the Management of the Maramani Tented Camp - Selection of a Private Operator 7 th November 2013 Page 1 of 11
Contents Table of Contents Page 1 Executive Summary... 3 2 Background... 3 3 Limpopo Transboundary Programme Interventions... 4 3.1 Tourism Interventions Zimbabwean Context... 4 4 Development of Maramani Tented Camp... 6 4.1 Objectives... 6 4.2 Progress to date... 6 5 Selection of the Potential Private Sector Partners... 7 5.1 Objectives... 7 5.2 Anticipated Roles and Responsibilities for the Private Sector entity... 8 5.3 Skills & Competences... 8 5.4 Participation... 8 5.5 Documentation required for submission of proposals... 8 5.6 Evaluation criteria... 9 5.7 Period for the acceptance of Proposal documents... 10 5.8 General conditions... 10 5.8.1 Language... 10 5.8.2 Cancellation of the selection process... 10 5.8.3 Dispute settlement... 11 5.8.4 Information about the selecting authorities and the Facilitating Agency. 11 5.8.5 Policy against Fraud and Corruption... 11 Supporting Galleries... 11 Table of Figures Figure 1: Locations for the GLTFCA and the GMTFCA... 4 Figure 2: Priority Sectors for the LTP... 4 Figure 3: Locations for the GLTFCA, GMTFCA and the positions for Community camps Sites... 6 Tables Table 1: Evaluation Criteria... 9 Page 2 of 11
1 Executive Summary The Limpopo Transboundary Programme has been requested by Beitbridge Rural District Council together with Maramani Tourism Development Trust to facilitate the establishment of a Community Private Public Partnership for the purposes of managing a Tourist Tented Camp that is located in Maramani Beitbridge West. The Limpopo Transboundary Programme (LTP) is a Transboundary Natural Resources management programme that is funded by the Italian Development Corporation, implemented by IUCN and Executed by CESVI a nongovernmental organisation with headquarters in Italy. The programme is currently operating in Beitbridge and Chiredzi Districts of Zimbabwe. In Beitbridge the LTP is currently working with Beitbridge Rural District Council and the Community of Maramani as represented by their Community Trust on the Development of Transboundary Tourism Infrastructure in the form of a tented camp and its management institutions. It is in that context that the LTP has been requested to play a facilitation role on the development of a Community Public Private Partnership. By copy of the present document the LTP, therefore invites proposals from interested potential tourism Private sector partners who can work with Beitbridge Rural District Council and the Community of Maramani on the operationalisation and management of the tented camp. 2 Background The creation of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park through a treaty involving Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe in 2002 and the ongoing processes of establishing the Greater Mapungubgwe TFCA involving Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe seeks among other things to develop trans-border ecotourism. This development of Trans-border tourism is viewed as part of the means of fostering regional socio-economic development through partnerships between states in collaboration with the private sector, local communities and non-governmental organizations as part of transboundary management of biological natural resources and cultural heritage resources. On the Zimbabwean side Beitbridge district has over the past 10years, found itself at the centre of a number of Transboundary Natural Resources Management processes that affects both the GLTFCA and the GMTFCA. This is because parts of the district constitute part of the geographical areas of the two TFCAs the GLTFCA in the east and the GMTFCA in the west respectively. Of interest to the present call is a programme entitled Livelihood enhancement through Transboundary Natural Resources Management in the Limpopo Corridor in short the Limpopo Transboundary Programme(LTP), a programme that Beitbridge district together with Chiredzi district has been working in partnership with IUCN as the Implementing Agency and CESVI as the Executing agency. This is a programme that has been funded by the Italian Development Corporation Page 3 of 11
Figure 1: Locations for the GLTFCA and the GMTFCA 3 Limpopo Transboundary Programme Interventions At its very inception workshop in April 2009, Zimbabwean stakeholders identified crops, livestock and wildlife and tourism as potential sectors that the programme could support so as to meet its objective of improving the livelihoods of its targeted communities. This recommendation was endorsed by a regional workshop that was held in Pretoria in July 2009 involving key stakeholders from Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Figure 2: Priority Sectors for the LTP 3.1 Tourism Interventions Zimbabwean Context The LTP carried out detailed technical analysis involving the use of Decision Support System and Stakeholder Consultations Motivated with the objective of defining specific interventions on the tourism sector. Key among the outcomes was the realization that: Key tourism resources in the GLTFP and GMTFCA include wildlife in public and private protected areas and surrounding communal lands, large rivers, aquatic resources and Page 4 of 11
diverse vegetation types that form spectacular scenery in some places and diverse cultural traditions of resident communities in Beitbridge and Chiredzi Rural District Councils (RDCs). Tourism on the Zimbabwean side of the GLTFP and GMTFCA continues to operate way below its full potential due to poorly maintained road networks, lack of tourist friendly crossing points between Zimbabwe and South Africa, lack of developed cross-border tourism products, lack of accommodation facilities, overreliance on sport hunting in CAMPFIRE areas, local communities lack of authority to utilize and derive direct benefits from wildlife and cultural tourism. The two RDCs and their communities are part of the CAMPFIRE of which they do get some limited revenues but the campfire programme has its challenges too. Challenges include conflicts of interest on the part of the Safari Operators when it comes to Problem Animal Control and the fact that authority to manage and utilize natural resources remains vested with the RDCs and not the specific community wards and villages where tourism activities take place which brings about excessive overheads for the programme resulting with revenues being over taxed. As a result tourism resources has not been making significant contributions to livelihoods leaving local communities continue depending on dry land cropping and livestock production both of which are occasionally experience failures due to recurrent droughts, livestock diseases and stock theft all of which signal the vulnerability of local livelihoods. In view of these outcomes and Motivated by King Slay Holgate s expedition of 2009 the Limpopo Transboundary Programme facilitation team and other stakeholders conceptualized the idea of linking the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area and the Greater Mapungubgwe TFCA through a series of tourist trails. The concept of linking the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA) and the Greater Mapungubgwe Transfrontier Conservation Area (GMTFCA) of which the two are separated by a distance of 180km was seen as strategic since the two parks have the following commonalities: Similar ecology and cultural practices Similar environment Beautiful Landscape suitable for hiking trails shaped by the same river Limpopo that link the two areas Similar challenges as they seek to promote Transfrontier tourism This concept was eventually adopted by the trilateral committee for the Greater Mapungubgwe TFCA and the Joint Management Board for the Great Limpopo TFCA. In April to May 2010 the Limpopo Transboundary Programme and a number of stakeholders that included Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority and the Rural District Council personnel from the Zimbabwean side conducted a trial expedition for a possible route that would link the two TFCAs. Key among the outcomes of that trial expedition was: The recognition that on the Zimbabwean side of the route there was need for camping facilities along the route to break the 180km distance. The need to develop tourist friendly crossing points instead of relying on Beitbridge Border post. The need to establish Community Trust that will represent communities on the formation of partnerships with the Private Sector and the RDC. The trial expedition was then followed by a feasibility study in April 2011 that came to the conclusion that establishing three potential sites identified by the trial expedition was feasible provided that: The three sites identified at Tshikwalakwala, Tshamtete and Maramani are initially set up as low cost interventions possibly as tented camping facilities. See figure one for the location of the three sites. The need to establish Community Trust that will represent communities on the formation of partnerships with the Private Sector and the RDC. Page 5 of 11
The need to develop tourist friendly crossing points instead of relying on Beitbridge Border post. Facilities are managed through a Community Public Private Partnership to enhance marketing of the camp(s) Figure 3: Locations for the GLTFCA, GMTFCA and the positions for Community camps Sites 4 Development of Maramani Tented Camp 4.1 Objectives The objectives of developing the Maramani Tented Camp are to: Facilitate the establishment of the necessary policy and legal framework providing for the establishment of a 4x4 trail camping facility at Masubelele in Maramani. Facilitate the establishment of basic camping facilities for a 4x4 camp at Masubelele, in Maramani. Initiate the process of identifying private sector partners for the establishment of Public- Private-Community partnership arrangements for the management of the three proposed 4x4 trail camps. Contribute towards the establishment of offsite income generating projects. 4.2 Progress to date To date the LTP programme in partnership with Beitbridge Rural District Council has so far managed to: Get the proposals for the development of Maramani Tented Camp incorporated into the Integrated Development Plan for the Development of the Greater Mapungubgwe Transfrontier Conservation Area that incorporates parts of Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Facilitate the development of technical designs for the camp Facilitate the development of a Site Plan by the Department of Physical Planning. The camp is located 125km west of Beitbridge town with 10 of the 125km being a tarred road along the Beitbridge-Bulawayo whilst the rest 115km is on dust road. Get the necessary RDC resolution for infrastructure and institutional development. Page 6 of 11
Facilitate the establishment and registration of three community trusts at Maramani, Tshamtete and Tshikwalakwala. Facilitate the acquisition of the EIA certificate for infrastructure. Delivered on the establishment of infrastructure consisting of: Admin/Caretaker s House Ablution Unit that operates through a septic tank and a soak away Borehole fitted with a submersible pump, a diesel generator and a water tank Fire Place Three Braai Stands Plates washing basin 16 Slabs for fitting tents At a recent Stakeholders consultation workshop, organized by the LTP on the 27and 28 th of June 2013 and held at the Beitbridge Express Hotel to define the Model for the partnership linking the Community, the Public and the Private sector, stakeholders indicated that communities represented by their community trust should initially formalize their partnership with the RDC through a memorandum agreement that should formerly constitute the community representatives party. That process is at an advance stage and expected to be completed by the beginning of 2014 once the Rural District Council adopts the draft memorandum of agreement. Once that is achieved the process of setting up a Community Public Private Partnership should follow this up by engaging a Tourism Private Sector Partner who will work with Community representatives namely Beitbridge Rural District Council and Maramani Tourism Development Trust on the operationalisation and long term management of the Maramani Tented camp. These three parties should then go on to engage with relevant Public Sector entities such as Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, the Border Authorities etc who shall constitute the Public sector Parties. 5 Selection of the Potential Private Sector Partners In line with recommendations of the feasibility study and the recommendations of key stakeholders Beitbridge Rural District Council in partnership with Maramani Tourism Development Trust have jointly requested the Limpopo Transboundary Programme to invite proposals from potential tourism private sector partners who are interested on being part of a Community Private Public Partnership for the management of the Maramani Tented Camp. 5.1 Objectives The objective of this selection is to facilitate the engagement of a Private sector partner to set up a Community Public Private Partnership with Beitbridge Rural District Council and Maramani Tourism Development Trust for the purposes of operationalisation and management of the Maramani Tented camp. For this purpose it is foreseen the establishment of a Community Page 7 of 11
Private Public Partnership of at least 15 years, but not more than 45 years with periodic reviews every five years. 5.2 Anticipated Roles and Responsibilities for the Private Sector entity Capital investment to improve on the infrastructure, procure some of the equipment and cover the initial operational costs. In collaboration with the other two parties finalise the development of the tented camp through the establishment of the outstanding infrastructure such as fence, electrification, procurement of the fire management equipment Overall day to day management of the tented camp and the development of a medium to long term strategic development plan Tourism Marketing capacity and networking; Employment of local people; Capacity building for the Maramani Trust on developing tourism products and management of the camp Support for tourism related Small, Medium and Micro-Enterprises (SMMEs) in Maramani community coupled with basic training in procurement requirements, service and product quality and consistency of supplying services and products such as art and crafts, vegetables, apiculture and poultry and piggeries ; Payment of a fixed rental fee plus a percentage of the company's annual turnover. Provide guidance on the management of the camp s natural environment including fire prevention, waste management, poaching control and the prevention of soil degradation. 5.3 Skills & Competences The entity should demonstrate the following: Related experiences in tourism business Capacity to finance the outstanding developmental works and the initial running costs. Good track record on managing community based tourism related businesses will be an added advantage 5.4 Participation To be eligible for participation in the selection, proponents must provide all the asked for documentation on a timely basis. Proponents must also prove that they comply with the necessary legal, technical and financial requirements. LTP reserves the right to ask for documentation. 5.5 Documentation required for submission of proposals 1. The Proposal; the proposal shall be expected to cover in detail the following sections: A. Developmental proposals to finalize the infrastructure requirements and the equipment needs of the camp to make it operational indicate its proposed partnership period. B. Marketing Plan Proposals to demonstrate how the entity intends to market the camp and establish market linkages with other tourism establishments in the region Of particular interest the entity has to demonstrate its strategies of engaging with the public sector particularly with a view of enhancing the operationalisation of tourist friendly border facilities with South Africa and Botswana Page 8 of 11
C. Capacity Building The entity should present an outline of how it intends to carry out capacity building in terms of promoting tourism related businesses among the community of Maramani and their capacity to manage the tented camp. D. Environmental Management Give an outline of how it will spearhead the management of the camp s natural environmental with special emphasis being placed on fire prevention, waste management, poaching control and the prevention of soil degradation E. Business Plan This should constitute a pull together section in monitory terms showing the projected cash outflows and cash inflows including incomes to communities for at least the first five years of the partnership. Cash inflows should be supported by reasonable incomes justifications. 2. Tax clearance: Valid tax clearance certificate 3. Company registration/certificate of incorporation 4. Company profile (Board of Director, address, contacts, description of the company, etc) 5. Contactable Authorities; List of contactable local regional and international authorities where the entity has been doing related business over the past twenty years. 6. Proof of financial capacity to contribute towards the outstanding developmental works and meet the financial obligations of the first year of the running costs N.B. The first three documents (The proposals, Tax clearance and Company registrations) are necessary for the proposal to be evaluated. N.B. The last 3 documents (company profile, list of main authorities and proof of financial capacity) are not compulsory, but being part of the evaluation criteria, their presence will certainly increase the final vote. 5.6 Evaluation criteria After receiving the proposals Beitbridge RDC and Maramani Trust will first check if all the proposals have all the requested documentations. Those which do not have all the necessary documents will be disqualified from the evaluation process. Proposals found to contain all the necessary documents will be evaluated according to the following criteria 1. Proposals; 2. Professional capacity of the offer (technical quality of the offer, specification and presence of due quality certificate); 3. Track record: analysis of successful/unsuccessful works, from the list of previous clients and works and from any public record in Beitbridge or region available; 4. Presence of supporting documents: Financial offer, Tax clearance and Company registrations, company profile and proof of financial capacity. Table 1: Evaluation Criteria No Criteria Vote 1 (lowest) - 4 (Highest) Applied Weight for each criteria Scores 1a Developmental proposals 8 Page 9 of 11
1b Marketing Plan 8 1c Capacity Building 8 1d Environmental Management 8 1e Business Plan 8 2 Technical and professional capacity (quality of the offer) 3 Company track record obtained from sited authorities 25 20 4 Presence of supporting documents 15 TOTALS 100 All the evaluated entities will be officially informed of the outcome in writing within seven days following the evaluation and selection of the winner. 5.7 Period for the acceptance of Proposal documents Acceptance of proposal documents shall be open with effect from today the <2013/11/07>, until 1630hours on the <2013/11/26>the closing day for submission. Submissions should be hand delivered or sent by a courier to CESVI Beitbridge office on or before to the following address: CESVI LTP, C/O Beitbridge Rural District Council, Box 32 Beitbridge, Zimbabwe. Documents shall be sealed and bare the header: ZIM892/Selection of a Private Operator/Maramani Tented Camp. Submissions by electronic mail are accepted provided the documentation brings an electronic signature from the proponent and a successive hardcopy is sent by a courier within 1 week of the submission deadline. Electronic mail shall be sent to the address: methuselimaphala@yahoo.com Information on the selection can be obtained from CESVI Beitbridge Office. Contact person Mr. Methuseli Maphala, CESVI Project manager, E-mail: methuselimaphala@yahoo.com; mobile phone: 00263772413677. 5.8 General conditions 5.8.1 Language All correspondence and documents related to this selection, contracts and reporting shall be written in English. 5.8.2 Cancellation of the selection process Under no circumstances will Beitbridge Rural District Council and Maramani Tourism Development Trust, the selecting authorities, and LTP, the facilitating agency programme, be liable for damages, whatever their nature (in particular damages for loss of profits) in connection to the cancellation of this selection. Page 10 of 11
5.8.3 Dispute settlement Any dispute shall be settled in terms of Zimbabwean law. 5.8.4 Information about the selecting authorities and the Facilitating Agency Beitbridge Rural District Council is the Local Planning Authority for Beitbridge District established in terms of Zimbabwe s Rural District Councils Act of 1982. Beitbridge District is in Matabeleland South Province of Zimbabwe. Maramani Tourism Development Trust is a Community Based Organisation registered through the registrar of Trust at the High Court for the purposes of promoting tourism Development in Maramani ward of Beitbridge District. CESVI the executing Agency for the LTP is an international, secular, independent organisation based in Italy, which is working for global solidarity in 33 different countries overseas with over 13.5 million Euros as total operating charges during the year 2003. CESVI is a member of "Alliance 2015" and is recognised as recommended NGO for consultative status to ECOSOC; it has a differentiated portfolio of donors among which are the European Communities and UN, with a remarkable share from fundraising (above 20%). Further information is available from the following sources: http://www.cesvi.org/progetti_eng.asp (introduction to CESVI), http://www.alliance2015.org/ (Alliance 2015 web-site), www.un.org/news/press/docs/2004/ngo539.doc.htm (ECOSOC bulletin). An annual report is available, in English language, at: http://www.cesvi.org/pdf/bil-1-32-2003.pdf 5.8.5 Policy against Fraud and Corruption Public and Private donors demand that the selecting institutions and Cesvi uses the funds entrusted to it impartially, justly, and in accordance with the specified purposes. This applies also to the partners projects supported. Personal relationships or personal advantages should not influence the decisions of Cesvi employees and its partners in this case the selecting institutions. Corruption undermines the trust of target groups and of the public in the correct fulfillment of responsibilities, and inhibits the best-possible use of accessible funds. In order to effectively prevent corruption and avoid any suspicion of corrupt behaviour, Cesvi in particular has developed a set of Guidelines16 for the prevention of Corruption and Fraud, which has to be respected by the employees of the organization as well as the partner organizations with which it is contractually bound. The consequent transparent application of the regulations and procedures protects Cesvi public image, defends the organization against unjustified accusations and generalizations and averts violations. Parties signing this selection process undertake to follow the mentioned Guidelines and to communicate them firmly to other contractual partners (suppliers, service providers etc.). DATE: 2013/11/07 Signature Paolo Caroli Limpopo Transboundary Programme Director Supporting Galleries Page 11 of 11