Water crisis: ‘It is a terrible state of affairs’ – nurse By Surihe Gaomas WINDHOEK A water crisis hit Katutura State Hospital following a pipe-burst on Wednesday evening. By the time of going to print yesterday, there was still no sign that the water crisis was resolved. The only resource that came to the rescue of patients and medical staff was a water tank provided by the Windhoek Municipality, placed outside the Emergency Unit at the hospital. The water crisis placed a heavy strain on the nursing staff, as they had to split their duties between taking care of patients and fetching buckets of water from the tank. “It is a terrible state of affairs,” said one long-serving nurse at the hospital. “This water problem happens every two weeks due to pipe bursts. Toilets get blocked, it is smelly and there is no water to wash the floors. Things are really falling apart here,” she said. There were also concerns among the staff that the tank of water would only be enough for essential services and not for the general hygienic needs at the hospital. “As nurses, we have to wash the patients, give them water to take their medicine, and without water we just cannot do anything at all. We are frustrated with the whole situation, as collecting water is not even part of our job description,” said another nurse. Health authorities told New Era that one of the pipes behind the hospital premises had burst. He said the water-pipe system was now old and that it had been in existence for more than 30 years. Katutura State Hospital was built in 1973 as a referral public health facility. It receives on average 1 889 patients a month, with 85 per cent bed occupancy, as well as on average 1 453 outpatients every month. Commenting on the water crisis at the hospital, Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Richard Kamwi, said the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication was dealing with the issue as a matter of urgency. “The maintenance and supply of water and electricity are mandated to the Ministry of Works. I called Joel Kaapanda and asked him to come to my rescue, there’s no water at Katutura Hospital. People must be patient, while we leave the matter to the works ministry officials, because they are there on the ground,” said Kamwi. He said problems of water and electricity, currently being faced at the public health facilities, were matters which were outside his mandate as a health minister. He however assured that everything possible was being done to sort out the problem. The ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Kalumbi Shangula, echoed similar sentiments. The water problem comes shortly after an electricity blackout was experienced at the Windhoek Central Hospital a few weeks ago. It was reported that the recent blackouts, coupled with the shortage of medical equipment, forced a specialist doctor who had been operating on a patient to walk away in frustration.