Voges lists priorities to make metro flourish
Departing MBDA chief reflects on 13 years in job
CREATING a waterfront, developing Telkom Park as a retail and residential node and upgrading the Red Location Museum precinct are three critical game-changers that would provide significant economic and social boosts to Nelson Mandela Bay.
This the view of outgoing Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) chief executive Pierre Voges, 55, ahead of his month-end departure from the agency, where, for nearly 13 years, he oversaw major development projects, collectively valued at about R473-million.
Among the most visible and arguably most important were the pedestrian walkway development in Port Elizabeth’s Govan Mbeki Avenue and the revamp and revival of Parliament Street, the transformation of the beachfront and the renovation of the old Tramways Building.
Each of these, alongside projects in Helenvale, Veeplaas, New Brighton and Uitenhage, among others, radically upgraded and visually transformed those precincts, while dramatically increasing their usage and social and economic benefits.
The straight-talking Voges outlined his personal vision for the three major projects.
He envisioned that the long-mooted waterfront project – which hinges on the removal of manganese and fuel depot operations in the Port Elizabeth Harbour – be established as a “middle-class income” area as opposed to Cape Town’s upmarket V&A Waterfront.
This would ensure access for Bay residents and the viability of the area. The waterfront development would also play a vital role in the growth of international and domestic tourism, Voges said.
Turning to the Telkom Park precinct, including the old rugby stadium grounds, this development would be physically linked to the beachfront through Happy Valley.
“Such a linkage would extend and expand the beachfront offering substantially,” he said.
On the development of the Red Location Museum precinct, Voges said this would be critical to increasing tourism and associated economic activities in that area.
Voges named the transformation of the Kings Beach area as his favourite project, not only because the area was now rated as being among the best beachfronts in the country, but because it had vastly increased public safety there.
Referring to an attack and rape at Kings Beach, Voges revealed that he had been jogging at the beach at the time when the rape victim was brought “covered in blood” from the dunes where she was attacked.
“I was absolutely shocked. I felt I had to do something, and there was nothing I could do for her.
“I immediately decided that what I could do was to prioritise the development of Kings Beach, not just for the benefits to tourism and locals, but because it would significantly increase safety and security there.
“That is also why I consider that project to be the best I have been involved in,” he said.
Reflecting on a number of other issues, Voges said he believed the metro’s failed public transport system project (IPTS) – which has cost about R2-billion – would not have been, nor will it be, necessary if the metro’s taxi industry was properly and appropriately structured, administrated and made to conform to safety norms.
On tensions within the MBDA in 2015 and last year, Voges acknowledged that it had been a difficult time and attributed this to factors during a period of introspection.
“I had been there more than 10 years and it was a period when one starts to ask: have I been here too long and is it time to move on?
“So in that sense, it was not an easy period,” he said.
Voges, who is well known in the Central and Richmond Hill areas as a man not afraid to walk through the streets at night and enjoy a meal or drinks at eateries, said this routine, although natural to him, also assisted him in gauging the developments and upgrades that residents both wanted and needed.
“Public participation has certainly been one of the MBDA’s biggest strengths and contributors to its success.
“Through these programmes, we have been able to establish, as accurately as possible, which projects are both crucial and desired by the communities.”
Voges said the MBDA’s slightly unconventional approach, its perceived autonomy from local government and its creativity had played a major role into its success.
“It is very positive that we have a board in place and a board which provides healthy checks and balances.
“As for the future of the MBDA, I trust that it will move on to new and bigger projects, that it will maintain its close links to communities, that it maintains its strong values and ethics, and maintains its record of clean audits and creativity,” Voges said. And his future? While not making any details available, he hinted that he would take up an opportunity with an international entity soon.