Hospital project in limbo
A project to establish a referral hospital in the north seems to be stalled.
A boardroom tussle between northern politicians and health minister Bernard Haufiku is threatening to stall the development of a large hospital project.
A high level of uncertainty still surrounds the troubled referral hospital earmarked for the Oshana Region.
Oshana chief regional officer Martin Elago said Haufiku was yet to respond to their communication with regard to the site of the referral hospital.
According to Elago, the council had passed a resolution on 8 June this year recommending that the referral hospital be established at Ondangwa.
This was communicated to Haufiku in June, but there was no official response.
Elago said there had been no reply from the minister's office.
“We first wrote to him in June before the deadline and he did not send us an acknowledgement letter. We did a follow-up in September and still we have received nothing.
“The office of the president, which was copied in on the correspondence, sent us an acknowledgement letter. Ongwediva, which had written to Haufiku in their own capacity, received their acknowledgement letter from him after they submitted it in June,” Elago said last week.
According to Haufiku though, there was no need for any communication.
“Not much progress has been made to date since the issue is in the political arena.
There is nothing decided on as yet and there are lot of things that need to be ironed out,” he told Namibian Sun yesterday.
At one stage it was reported that the hospital would be a public-private partnership venture with international partners, but Haufiku has refused to disclose the partners, saying negotiations are not yet at that stage.
After a consultative meeting with northern health professionals and the political leadership from the Oshana, Ohangwena, Omusati and Oshikoto regions at Ongwediva regarding the plan to construct a the state-of-the-art 1 000-bed hospital in Oshana in May this year, Haufiku ordered Ondangwa and Ongwediva to identify sites for the facility by 30 June.
He also asked the Oshana regional leadership to come up with a recommendation for a site at Ondangwa and Ongwediva, which would then be assessed for suitability by independent geo-scientific consultants.
However, the Oshana political leadership unanimously agreed to have the referral hospital built at Ondangwa ahead of Ongwediva and Oshakati.
The decision was made a resolution of the regional council.
The council's chairperson, Gerson Hannu Kapenda, earlier told Namibian Sun that the decision was based on the development needs of the region, and was supported by all 11 regional councillors.
The issue divided politicians in the region, with governor Clemens Kashuupulwa reportedly claiming that the council's resolution to recommend Ondangwa did not follow resolutions passed at a meeting held with Haufiku in May.
Officials from Ongwediva and Ondangwa, as well as Kashuupulwa, have confirmed they have not received any answer on the issue.
ILENI NANDJATO
A high level of uncertainty still surrounds the troubled referral hospital earmarked for the Oshana Region.
Oshana chief regional officer Martin Elago said Haufiku was yet to respond to their communication with regard to the site of the referral hospital.
According to Elago, the council had passed a resolution on 8 June this year recommending that the referral hospital be established at Ondangwa.
This was communicated to Haufiku in June, but there was no official response.
Elago said there had been no reply from the minister's office.
“We first wrote to him in June before the deadline and he did not send us an acknowledgement letter. We did a follow-up in September and still we have received nothing.
“The office of the president, which was copied in on the correspondence, sent us an acknowledgement letter. Ongwediva, which had written to Haufiku in their own capacity, received their acknowledgement letter from him after they submitted it in June,” Elago said last week.
According to Haufiku though, there was no need for any communication.
“Not much progress has been made to date since the issue is in the political arena.
There is nothing decided on as yet and there are lot of things that need to be ironed out,” he told Namibian Sun yesterday.
At one stage it was reported that the hospital would be a public-private partnership venture with international partners, but Haufiku has refused to disclose the partners, saying negotiations are not yet at that stage.
After a consultative meeting with northern health professionals and the political leadership from the Oshana, Ohangwena, Omusati and Oshikoto regions at Ongwediva regarding the plan to construct a the state-of-the-art 1 000-bed hospital in Oshana in May this year, Haufiku ordered Ondangwa and Ongwediva to identify sites for the facility by 30 June.
He also asked the Oshana regional leadership to come up with a recommendation for a site at Ondangwa and Ongwediva, which would then be assessed for suitability by independent geo-scientific consultants.
However, the Oshana political leadership unanimously agreed to have the referral hospital built at Ondangwa ahead of Ongwediva and Oshakati.
The decision was made a resolution of the regional council.
The council's chairperson, Gerson Hannu Kapenda, earlier told Namibian Sun that the decision was based on the development needs of the region, and was supported by all 11 regional councillors.
The issue divided politicians in the region, with governor Clemens Kashuupulwa reportedly claiming that the council's resolution to recommend Ondangwa did not follow resolutions passed at a meeting held with Haufiku in May.
Officials from Ongwediva and Ondangwa, as well as Kashuupulwa, have confirmed they have not received any answer on the issue.
ILENI NANDJATO
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