The ongoing major renovations at the 50-year-old Katutura Intermediate Hospital are facing delays due to the continued presence of patients, amid failure to secure alternative health facilities to relocate the sick.
With these delays, the Ministry of Works and Transport that was mandated to facilitate the renovation of one of the country’s biggest referral hospitals, fears that the funds might be returned to treasury as the financial year closure draws near.
“This is a big issue the Ministry of Health and Social Services and us [Ministry of Works] are sitting with, as we do not know how and where to take these patients so that the contractors can access the floors and carry out the work,” said Ministry of Works and Transport’s Executive Director Esther Kaapanda.
“It is most difficult because there has been no major renovation of this magnitude carried out at the Katutura Hospital before, thus posing a challenge that needs a timely decision.
“All contractors from plumbers, electrification, builders and so forth, have been appointed already and requisition orders issued, but the problem is how do they work when people are still within the building.
“We have, however, started with repairs like on the seventh floor, but our plan was to undertake the work simultaneously so that everything is done at once and ends at the same time without any delays.
“Our fear now is that the funds may return to the treasury, thus we may lose out because we didn’t execute within a reasonable timeframe. We shall, however, engage the Ministry of Finance if such funds can be diverted into a suspense account, thus allowing us time to continue working on the project,” Kaapanda added.
This comes as the government is set to construct a district hospital in Windhoek with a capacity of 300 beds.
The move is expected to relieve the pressure on the country’s oldest health facilities, Katutura and Central Intermediate Hospitals, which are overwhelmed with patients.
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