RUNDU – The Rundu Intermediate Hospital should have a new maternity ward within nine months, the timeframe in which the project’s completion is envisaged.
Summer Stone Constructions is the contractor for the project.
The new ward is expected to ease the overcrowded existing maternity ward of the Rundu hospital, an issue the public have complained about over the years.
The construction started in May this year after land was availed to government for the project.
However, Chief Medical Superintendent of the Rundu intermediate Hospital Dr Yuri Yangazov had expressed concern about the “slow progress” of the project.
“There is no progress on the site up to now, they have demolished the foundation more than once. It looks like nobody could read the plan correctly and they at first said the soil is not good and were also delayed by the skeletons found on the site,” Yangazov said.
But according to site manager John Elago his company is not behind schedule, adding that they cannot “rush the building” because they want to deliver quality work.
“We are still on track, I don’t understand why they are saying we are behind schedule if we still have about a year to deliver.”
He added: “This soil is collapsible soil so we needed to lay a strong foundation before building. We were given the plot in March and had to clear it as it was bushy and had big trees. When we started with excavations we were still delayed as every second day we found human remains. We discovered that the plot was a cemetery many years ago, but we are humans and we were distracted by that,” Elago said.
The construction currently employs 90 workers on site.
The ward will have its own administration, a total of 140 beds, an isolation unit, premature birth unit, two theatres, six delivery rooms and a full antenatal care unit.
“We want quality work, people should build quality work for their fellow Namibians, not buildings that will endanger people’s lives. People must just be patient, we will deliver the project,” said Elago.
By John Muyamba