Roger’s contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS only accounts for half of its CSR funding. The company is also involved financially (and indeed as individuals) in social work through its various business sectors, which aspire, each in their own ways, to making a positive contribution to society. The activities chosen include help to school children from disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as the strengthening of the organisational capacity of NGOs.
photos : rogers image bank | gilbert soobraydoo
Much of Rogers’ hotel, property and leisure activities are concentrated on Domaine de Bel Ombre, in the island’s southwest. Set up in 2008, the main purpose of the Bel Ombre Foundation for Empowerment (BOFE) is to “empower the inhabitants of the Bel Ombre region to catch the development bandwagon, by investing in training, entrepreneurship and social integration.” Through the Foundation (which has a provisional budget of €1.2 million for a five-year period), the Compagnie Sucrière de Bel Ombre (Bel Ombre Sugar Estate), the Villas Valriche integrated tourism development project and the Heritage Awali and Heritage Le Telfair Golf & Spa Resorts contribute to the region’s socio-economic development.
Much of Rogers’ hotel, property and leisure activities are concentrated on Domaine de Bel Ombre, in the island’s southwest. Set up in 2008, the main purpose of the Bel Ombre Foundation for Empowerment (BOFE) is to “empower the inhabitants of the Bel Ombre region to catch the development bandwagon, by investing in training, entrepreneurship and social integration.” Through the Foundation (which has a provisional budget of €1.2 million for a five-year period), the Compagnie Sucrière de Bel Ombre (Bel Ombre Sugar Estate), the Villas Valriche integrated tourism development project and the Heritage Awali and Heritage Le Telfair Golf & Spa Resorts contribute to the region’s socio-economic development. The BOFE’s flagship initiative, a community project called Plankton recycling glass and plastic, is motivated by both social responsibility and environmental concerns. The project has been supported by Heritage Resorts since initial consideration was first was first given to it in 2010 and they also finance it to the tune of Rs2 million (some € 500,000). Since operations started in January 2012, Plankton has helped to bring about a sustainable solution to waste management in the area. The initiative is also in line with the government’s sustainable island project, Ile Maurice Durable.
The project has a business as well as an environmental function and has led to the creation of five “green” jobs for local inhabitants, three of them full-time. The recycling unit has a monthly capacity able to transform into aggregate three tonnes of glass and half a tonne of plastic. These come from hotels in the region, who have benevolently agreed to be involved in the project. It is hoped that, over time, Plankton will become free-standing and able to generate funds for the community.
Other projects are also underway in order to create an environment that encourages each individual to realise his/her potential. These include a training centre that provides literacy and life-skills courses, a holiday camp, and a school of music, theatre and sports, as well as a crèche for children in the South. So far, more than a third of the region’s 6,000 inhabitants, who come from the villages of Bel Ombre, Riviere des Galets, St Martin, Baie du Cap, Choisy and Beau Champ, have benefitted from the Foundations’ help.
Other parts of the Rogers’ Group are also active. As well as its contribution to the BOFE through its luxury label (Heritage Resorts), Veranda Leisure & Hospitality (VLH) runs various CSR projects in the immediate neighbourhood of its other hotels. The Veranda Grand Baie Hotel & Spa, for example, is supporting 40 families in the northern village of Grand Bay, where it is located, in setting up kitchen gardens and food self-sufficiency activities. Two other hotels, the Veranda Paul & Virginie Hotel & Spa and the Veranda Pointe aux Biches Hotel, have already been giving financial support to ZEP (priority support) schools and ANFEN (a teenage non-formal education network) for several years. Heritage Resorts also supports a project targeting street children in the village of Riambel and has financed to the tune of Rs1 million (€25,000) the setting up of a BOFE crèche, the first in the area to accept babies from three months to three years old.
For its part, Foresite Property, Rogers’ property arm, has been financing a programme that distributes meals on a twice-weekly basis to schoolchildren in the south-western coastal village of Le Morne. It has also co-financed a family market-gardening project, involving 120 households in the village and its surrounds.
The Logistics sector continues its involvement with young people through sports, education and community development. Rogers Aviation, mean-while, supports NGOs involved in the fight against such illnesses as breast cancer and diabetes. Yet again, Rogers’ real estate and agribusiness sides, whilst supporting the BOFE through the Compagnie Sucrière de Bel Ombre (Bel Ombre Sugar Estate), concentrate efforts on education and sports, as well as on senior and disabled associations. All of these initiatives, which are often complemented by staff personal involvement, show the extent to which Rogers is committed to the spirit of business involvement in society.
Tourism development supports social causes
Integrated Resort Scheme (IRS) projects have to contribute financially to CSR projects approved by the Board of Investment. Villas Valriche therefore gives Rs200,000 (about € 5,000) to the Bel Ombre Foundation for Empowerment in respect of each villa sold. So far, its contribution to social projects in the Bel Ombre region through the Foundation have totalled Rs23 million (some € 600,000).
A ball at the domaine
Rogers also has responsibility for its employees’ health, safety at work, professional development and well-being. Amongst the many activities organised, end-of-year parties are particularly enjoyed, recompensing all the hard work done during the year and helping to bring staff together. The Domaine de Bel Ombre function stood out, with the organisation of a good, old-fashioned ball at the Place du Moulin, the site of the former sugar factory, on 15 and 16 December 2011. All of the some 800 people working there entered into the spirit of the occasion, using considerable imagination and ingenuity in their choice of costumes, making the staff party an even more exceptional event.
