Operations scheduled for more than two dozen patients were cancelled this week because of equipment failure and infrastructure problems, The Namibian has learned.

A lack of funds appears to be at the heart of recurring problems.

Nurses at both the Katutura and Windhoek Central State hospitals have complained about major surgery that had to be called off because the machine used to wash and sterilise instruments broke down, air conditioning did not function and there was a lack of water at certain times.

While acknowledging that problems existed, officials maintained there was no crisis.

They said everything was back to normal by yesterday afternoon.

Health staff became especially worried when some major operations had to be postponed from Tuesday to Thursday.

Among others, a woman who was to undergo an emergency operation on her arm ended up having it put in plaster without the needed surgical procedures.

"If there are serious emergencies, people could die," said one nurse at Katutura Hospital.

"We can only do minor operations, like taking out wires, that can be done without instruments.

"This is also problematic for people who come from outside Windhoek and have now been told their operations are cancelled until next week," she said.

Some health workers say more than 30 people scheduled to go under the scalpel may have been affected.

Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Simwanza Simenda, indicated he was aware of the problems that led to equipment not being sterilised.

But he denied that as many people as cited may have been denied surgery.

He said the two hospitals have suffered recurring problems for the past two weeks.

Last week, a water pipe burst at Katutura Hospital.

Contingency measures were put in place, he said.

On Monday, the air conditioning system at the Windhoek Central Hospital was again repaired after failing.

More pipe bursts were reported, with the sterilising equipment at a section called the CSSD bearing the major brunt.

Yet, Simenda was adamant: "What I can assure you is that the Ministry is working on that.

The situation has not reached crisis proportions.

Not at all".

However, Simenda, who is acting as Permanent Secretary, said ancient equipment and infrastructure have seen breakdowns become a common occurrence.

"Yesterday there was no water," said Simenda, "but everything is back to normal.

But can it re-occur again.

I cannot give you a guarantee that a pipe will not burst between now and the time that you write your story".

At N$1,7 billion, the Ministry of Health and Social Services, has the third highest budget allocation, surpassed only by the Ministry of Finance at N$2,7 billion and the Ministry of Basic Education with N$2,2 billion in the 2003-4 National Budget.

But most of the money is gobbled up by salaries.

"If we could wish that every little problem should be solved it would be solved today," said Simenda.

"But like I said some of our hospitals have this old equipment and the Ministry is fully aware of that.

Once in a while it causes some problems ... the Ministry is attending to those issues, to replace old equipment with new ...

But I'm sure you also appreciate that some of the equipment is very, very expensive".

But, Simenda said no patient "has died because there was no equipment".

It is not clear how much it would cost to revamp some of the infrastructure and replace aging hospital equipment.

"But unfortunately when you have an occurrence like this one of a pipe bursting, definitely anywhere in the world, even in the most sophisticated system, it will cause some inconvenience".

The never-ending problems at the hospital and an apparent lack of money to fix the problems come amid revelations that Government is building a new State House at a cost expected to exceed N$500 million.

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