The Sanctuary is a remote place and part of its appeal is that it is cut off from the day to day distractions of the big city. However, our remote location and light human footprint means that operating a home on The Sanctuary on a daily basis, whether occupied by guests or between visits, can be challenging especially if the owners live far away, as is mostly the case. Logistics are extremely complex and it is not only difficult to stock and maintain the home and its assets such as boats and vehicles, but there are also numerous legal compliance requirements pertaining to employees which are particular to Mozambique. In answer to this The Sanctuary has introduced and entrenched various services to assist investors.
The Sanctuary offers various established services to facilitate visitors’ holiday plans and ensure that the holiday experience runs smoothly. This includes the arrangement of transfers for guests from the airport to the harbour in Vilanculos, the procurement of fuel, food and drink supplies and their delivery to site before arrival and during the visit, as well as the preparation of the holiday home according to the visitor’s requirements. On departure the requisite transfers can be arranged and unused utilities can be returned for credit. Expenses incurred are charged to a running account which is sent to the guest as soon as possible after departure for settlement within 14 days.
Because of the logistical factors arising from The Sanctuary’s location it became clear soon after The Sanctuary was established that a home management service was needed to maintain and look after properties, assets and staff on behalf of homeowners, and to provide basic support services and supply lines of fuel and food.
The Home Management service is an integral part of The Sanctuary, without which many homeowners would essentially be ‘stranded’ as services and supplies are not easy to source, logistics are complex, and conditions are harsh, necessitating regular repairs and ongoing maintenance to properties. This being said the Home Management Service is not mandatory and some homeowners choose not to subscribe to it, though it is highly recommended.
The Sanctuary’s Home Management service falls under Bonita Lda, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Sanctuary. The current Home Management Fee is 20,000Mt per month excluding IVA. This fee is separate to the mandatory Sanctuary Levy charged to all homeowners for the upkeep and management of The Sanctuary as a whole.
The Home Management Service fees maintain a personnel, asset and systems infrastructure to support the community of subscribing homeowners. Economies of scale and pooling of resources affords the Home Management Service sufficient critical mass to effectively alleviate homeowners of all the stresses and complexities of the day to day operations of their properties, at an affordable rate, and critically saves homeowners from having to employ their own site managers or manage their site themselves.
The Home Management Service is comprehensively defined. However, as the needs of each site and owner differ the service is characteristically customised to suit each subscriber.
The Home Management Service is not mandatory, though highly recommended. However, it is important to understand the implications and costs for an owner who chooses not to subscribe to the Home Management Service but requires ad hoc assistance as follows:
Sites that do not subscribe to the home management service are charged for services rendered on an ad hoc basis.
Centrally situated, lockable boat sheds are available to purchase. The Sanctuary facilitates the launching and storage of owners’ boats at a fee. Maintenance and repairs on boats is arranged on request with a third party boat mechanic. A facilitation/supervisory fee is charged to arrange and oversee repairs. This is arranged free of charge for Home Management Service subscribers. Non-subscribers must arrange these services themselves. Owners’ private boats are for their private use only and may not be rented out – this is in direct violation of the company’s Rules.
The Sanctuary has 2 boats which are used for guest transfers to and from Vilanculos. Passengers are required to sign an indemnity form presented by the skipper. No smoking is allowed on The Sanctuary’s boats.
In answer to increased demand from holidaying owners The Sanctuary has a staff pool of temporary boat skippers, chefs, housekeepers and security guards available to assist on request. These staff have been vetted by The Sanctuary and in most cases received training in their particular competencies to ensure that they have credible and reliable skills in keeping with the standards of The Sanctuary.
Given the remote location of The Sanctuary logistics tend to be complicated and the potential pitfalls should not be underestimated. With our extensive knowledge of logistics handling and the Mozambican commercial environment, we will facilitate the receipt of cross-border goods as well as carriage of goods from Vilanculos to The Sanctuary on local dhows. Logistics across the Vilanculos bay require careful planning around tides and the weather. Goods are transported on local dhows that can take cargoes of up to 5tons. Please note that goods received are not insured in Vilanculos storage or land/marine transit.
Labour management is one of the most important services offered by The Sanctuary to homeowners as labour law in Mozambique is complicated and the administrative requirements onerous. The management and administration of household employees is included in the Home Management Service subscription. For non-subscribers The Sanctuary charges an administration fee if human resources services are required.
The Sanctuary manages the water supply to development nodes with boreholes, pump systems and tank farms dedicated to development nodes. The first 5,000L of water supplied to a site each month is free of charge.
The Sanctuary has a refuse processing plant on site. On mainland Sanctuary household rubbish is collected once a week from each site free of charge. A dhow collects rubbish from Linene Island up to twice per month depending on need. Additional rubbish collection can be arranged for an additional fee.
All rubbish must be split between organic and inorganic material and put in refuse bags. Rubbish not in refuse bags will not be removed from site.
Garden waste and builders’ rubble can be removed at a fee. This is subject to the availability of the tractor and trailer. Casual labour to load and offload goods garden waste and rubble will be for the site holder’s expense.
It is a general rule of The Sanctuary that garden waste and rubble is removed from site in order to avoid pests and unsightly offence. Should an owner not make the necessary arrangements for removal of the offending material The Sanctuary will remove it from site and the cost will be for the owner’s account.
The Sanctuary offers a range of additional support and administration services to homeowners as follows:
The Sanctuary will charge an administration fee to provide these services based on the type of activity and cost associated thereof – each service will be unique as it varies from case to case, and therefore a quotation is provided prior to the commencement of this service.
The direct costs involved will be for the owner’s account.