Māori business Yakas Construction has won its first
government contract with Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities
to build six state houses in Kaikohe.
Yakas was
supported to be bid ready through a progressive procurement
initiative led by Te Puni Kōkiri and Ministry of Business,
Innovation and Employment. It aims to use the Government’s
annual $51.5 billion buying power to accelerate Māori
businesses and provide wider social outcomes in
communities.
Kerikeri business owner Martin Yakas of
Ngāti Rehia says he’s driven by getting whānau into
warm, dry homes in ‘the North’ where he grew up, in a
region with a major housing shortage.
“Being awarded
the contract with Kāinga Ora was pretty surreal. I’ve
invested a lot of time in the process, so it was emotional
finding out we won it. For me it’s about seeing whānau
going into these houses and not living in tin sheds. Every
time I see a family going into a new home I feel better,” he
says.
Martin started his business with just one other
employee where they worked for Northland iwi repairing
houses to be weathertight. He’s now grown his team to 12,
including two wahine who just started.
“Lots of these
whare weren’t dry or warm, and they leaked. I’ve built
the business up gradually and after getting our first shot
at a new build in Kerikeri we started getting noticed for
our quality and delivery on time.”
Yakas Construction
went through Te Puni Kōkiri’s Progressive Procurement
Capability Uplift Programme where he was mentored by Māori
business Height Project Management Limited.
“It’s
been a long process to tender for a Kāinga Ora contract,
but it’s been good forming these relationships. I got
there with help on things like accounting, procurement, and
setting up our Health and Safety prequalification, which you
need to show the developments are safe,” he
says.
Kāinga Ora General Manager Construction and
Innovation Patrick Dougherty says enabling opportunities to
engage with Māori and Pasifika businesses supports the
strategic outcomes of Kāinga Ora.
“Yakas Construction
were successful as they put together a competitive proposal,
are locally based and are respected builders with strong
links to the local community. We also recognised the
benefits of working with Martin because he offers
significant job opportunities for local youth, and this has
a knock-on effect to the Northland economy,” Patrick
says.
Along with helping with the housing shortage,
Martin’s other passion is working with the local high
school to offer rangatahi a chance to learn building
skills.
“I help out a lot of Māori youth who are
heading down the wrong path and I give them a chance to
upskill through apprenticeships. I’ve seen them turn
themselves around into being role models after coming off
the streets.
“The waiting list for houses up here is
massive. It takes on another angle when Māori are seeing
Māori building houses. It’s important to me we are
building homes for local people that need it,” he
says.
Patrick says Kāinga Ora is already busy with
close to 150 homes, in various stages of feasibility,
procurement and construction to be built in Northland, with
more to follow.
“Supporting local contractors will
play a big role in the success of delivering these homes,”
he says.
Notes to Editor
– Progressive
procurement is about buyers of goods and services
looking beyond price to wider social and public values. Te
Puni Kōkiri and MBIE have been prototyping ways to reduce
the barriers to Māori businesses engaging with government
procurement processes and supporting agencies to diversify
their spend since
2020.
