A Matter Of Fact

Girl not in need of donations MEMBERS of the public are requested to ignore an article on the front page of The Namibian on Friday, entitled ‘D-day for Desiree’.

The 15-year-old girl’s family said she needed N$60 000 to pay for an operation she underwent on Friday in which her right leg was amputated. Officials at the Katutura State Hospital have since informed The Namibian that Katupose is a State patient, and therefore her family was not required to make any monetary contribution to the operation.An explanation by the family that the requested donations were aimed at paying for a prosthetic leg was also disputed.Sister Paulina Shumba, a registered nurse at the Katutura hospital, said on Friday that after an operation such as the one Katupose underwent, a period of approximately three months first had to pass before a decision can be made on whether or not an artificial limb is the way to go.Even then, she said, the State will take responsibility for supplying a prosthesis.The reporter apologises for the serious mistake of not corroborating the information received from the girl’s family.For The Record IN the article headlined ‘Child abuse case slips through cracks in system’, in Friday’s The Namibian, it was reported that a 14-year-old girl from Dordabis alleges that she was raped on July 15 2006.The date of the alleged occurrence was in fact June 15 2006.She reported the case to the Police on July 7 2006.* In an article in The Namibian on Thursday, ‘Omaruru Spar leads the way in fight against litter’, it was reported that plastic bags now cost 25 cents, while the average cost to Spar per bag is around one cent.In fact, the bags cost Spar 13 cents.The wrong price was the result of a misplaced decimal point.As reported, half of the money collected from the sale of the bags is donated to the NCCI at Omaruru for environmental projects.Officials at the Katutura State Hospital have since informed The Namibian that Katupose is a State patient, and therefore her family was not required to make any monetary contribution to the operation.An explanation by the family that the requested donations were aimed at paying for a prosthetic leg was also disputed.Sister Paulina Shumba, a registered nurse at the Katutura hospital, said on Friday that after an operation such as the one Katupose underwent, a period of approximately three months first had to pass before a decision can be made on whether or not an artificial limb is the way to go.Even then, she said, the State will take responsibility for supplying a prosthesis.The reporter apologises for the serious mistake of not corroborating the information received from the girl’s family.For The Record IN the article headlined ‘Child abuse case slips through cracks in system’, in Friday’s The Namibian, it was reported that a 14-year-old girl from Dordabis alleges that she was raped on July 15 2006.The date of the alleged occurrence was in fact June 15 2006.She reported the case to the Police on July 7 2006. * In an article in The Namibian on Thursday, ‘Omaruru Spar leads the way in fight against litter’, it was reported that plastic bags now cost 25 cents, while the average cost to Spar per bag is around one cent.In fact, the bags cost Spar 13 cents.The wrong price was the result of a misplaced decimal point.As reported, half of the money collected from the sale of the bags is donated to the NCCI at Omaruru for environmental projects.