By Jemima Beukes
KEETMANSHOOP – Plans for a new clinic worth N$300 000 in Lüderitz’s Area 7 informal settlement are well underway with the only hold-up being the approval of land, revealed the !Nami-#nus Constituency Councillor Jan Scholtz.
However, Scholtz expressed confidence the land will be approved before the end of this year and that construction for the clinic and an N$150 000 crèche will eventually kick off in the first quarter of 2014.
“Availability of land is not an issue, we applied for land already and we are only waiting for the approval – but I’m positive that it will be approved. I have submitted a letter to Dr Richard Kamwi (the Minister of Health and Social Services) to indicate why we qualify for a clinic in that area – now we are just waiting for the resolution and as soon as that is finalised construction will begin, ” Scholtz enthused.
He said the planned new developments will be funded through private partnerships.
Scholtz explained that the facilities are long overdue as residents are only served by one clinic and the state hospital which are always crowded and half the people unattended by close of business at five.
“Currently there is only one clinic, and a hospital. The people most affected are usually the factory workers who line up at the clinic in the morning at eight and sit until five unattended. When they return to work their bosses demand proof and if they do not have it then it is believed they lied. I have been there myself, I went there after I received complaints and I have seen the masses of people crowding there at the clinic – some are forced to shift over to the hospital which has its own crowd of people already,” he said.
According to him, Kamwi is due to visit Lüderitz to assess the situation and to see first-hand the impact the shortage of medical services has on residents.