By William J. Mbangula Oshakati All roads will lead to Ongwediva next Wednesday, May 23 when President Hifikepunye Pohamba will inaugurate a major health centre and an industrial facility constructed at a combined cost of about N$65 million. The two facilities to be officially opened by the Head of State are the close to N$40-million Medipark private hospital and the Offshore Development Company (ODC) industrial Park constructed at a cost of N$24 million. The President will first inaugurate Ongwediva Medipark, the first and only private hospital in Ongwediva town. Apart from the President, the occasion, which will be directed by the Ongwediva Medipark Managing Director Dr Tshali Iithete, will be addressed by among others the Minister of Health and Social Services Dr Richard Kamwi, the Governor of Oshana Clemens Kashuupulwa and the Managing Director of Erongo Medical Services Mathias Braune, one of the business partners of the private facility. The inauguration of the health facility, which opened its doors to the public last November, is expected to make a significant impact on the town as one of the hubs for essential services to the public. Since its inception Ongwediva Medipark, constructed with funds provided by amongst others Old Mutual, has conducted various theatre operations including surgery, orthopaedics (bone) and Caesarean sections, the first of which took place on November 21. The hospital has a 24-hour casualty emergency care unit where a doctor is on call at any time of the day or night, with the assistance of nine doctors. There are presently 13 doctors some of whom have just arrived from South Africa, 83 nurses and 55 institutional workers. Its services include the entire health service spectrum such as private hospital facilities, general practitioners and specialist consulting rooms, laboratories (Path Care and NIP), retail pharmacy and medical aid offices, a concept that can make the entire facility a one-stop health centre. Consulting rooms for general practitioners were completed towards the end of last month (April). Ongwediva Medipark recently signed a cooperation agreement with the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVA). Through the agreement, people involved in motor vehicle accidents would receive reasonable and fair medical care from Ongwediva Medipark, the costs of which will be incurred by the MVA Fund. The second leg of the President’s engagement in Ongwediva town on the same day will be the opening of the N$24-million ODC Industrial Park opposite the Ongwediva Trade Fair Centre. The event, to be directed by the Chief Regional Officer of Oshana, John Kandombo, will also be addressed by the Minister of Trade and Industry Immanuel Ngatjizeko and the Secretary of the Tenants Association Ndahambelela Phillipus. According to the ODC Senior Administrator for Assets and Parks in the North, Simon Pokolo, the Ongwediva industrial park is one of many SME business-oriented capital projects that have been undertaken by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) through its Sites and Premises Development Programme. The programme is one of the main components of the MTI’s overall policy and programme on small business development adopted in 1997. The aim of the programme, noted Pokolo, is to provide small, micro and medium scale enterprises (SMME) access to affordable industrial and general business sites and premises for light manufacturing, trading and office use as well as access to productive machinery and technology. The Ongwediva industrial park was constructed by the Grootfontein-based Dumpco company and has provided close to 300 jobs for the local people. It has the capacity to accommodate 40 trading units with enough land for further expansion if need be. It currently has a long waiting list of many potential traders. Traders housed in the park include grocery shops (Shoprite), banking (Bank Windhoek), hair salons, Multichoice, health and beauty products, architecture, tailoring, a printing shop, toilet-making facilities, ginger beer brewery, car sales (Dairenkia Motors) and others. The ODC offices are also located here as well as the Ministry of Trade and Industry, having moved from Ondangwa to Ongwediva in line with the cabinet directive that government institutions should be located in and around the regional capital. About 35 such business sites and premises have been constructed countrywide. Similar facilities are being developed at Oshikuku, Oshakati and Okalongo. Agrofood industrial park which is envisaged for Oshakati should be completed over ten years. It will be constructed in phases. So far, about N$2 million has been set aside for the provision of electricity and water to the site. The food storage facilities at Oshakati will come as a relief to many crop farmers including those from Etunda irrigation scheme because it will address one of the longstanding problems of the farmers regarding the grading of their produce. Many local crop farmers have been complaining about their products not being bought by retail and wholesale shops because they are not graded. As a result, the practice has been that crops are first sent to South Africa for grading and then returned to Namibia only to be sold at higher prices. The N$10-million Oshikuku industrial park focuses on the manufacturing of plastic goods. It is due to open on June 1, 2007. Pokolo explained that tenders for the construction of similar facilities at Okalongo, to be built at a cost of N$6 million, are already out. Work will commence as soon as all the groundwork is done.