Hospital water reticulation project at a standstill

TWO months after the crippling water crisis that hit the Windhoek Central Hospital, work to lay new underground water pipes to complete the water reticulation process has come to a standstill amid confusion over who should do the job.

An inside source said the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS), Andrew Ndishishi, had selected a different contractor from the one appointed by the Ministry of Works and Transport in order to speed-up the process.

The source also said Ndishishi had given the job to Namibia Road Productions resulting in the Ministry of Works questioning the delays in the completing of the project.

The Namibian visited the work-site at the hospital twice but found no workers while tools and equipment were strewn all over with nobody taking care of them.

Some members of the public said they are worried that the trenches that were dug at the beginning of the construction process and then left open pose a danger to passers-by.

A source at the Ministry of Works said although repairs were done and the water supplies restored after the hospital experienced a water crisis in July, proper engineering work needs to be done to ensure that such a crisis does not happen again. The source further said that the MoHSS only attended to the immediate problem on the surface but was delaying in the actual groundwork to replace aging water-pipes with new ones.

“We have received no progress report from Ndishishi on what the hiccup is. Such a project is supposed to be a priority but it is not being treated with the urgency it deserves,” said the source.

Approached for comment, Ndishishi said the design of a new water reticulation is complete and that the Tender Board approved the project last week and that work at the site will commence this week.

“It is a permanent system of replacing the old system and water reservoir with new ones,” he said. Ndishishi could, however, not disclose the value of the tender saying that he was still awaiting a quotation.

Gert Van Wyk, senior artisan in the Ministry of Works and Transport maintenance department said he received several queries from potential contractors expressing their interest in completing the project.

“The current contractor was not appointed by the Ministry of Works so we cannot interfere,” said Van Wyk. However, he said the length of time it was taking the Ministry of Health to wrap-up the project was worrisome. “This is a project that was supposed to be completed a long time ago.”

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