Volunteers Can Keep Things Clean

THERE has been a litany of complaints in recent months about the dilapidated state of many Government-owned facilities, from State hospitals to education colleges and even apartment buildings.

Often blame is apportioned to the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication, for failure to see to maintenance and upkeep, and there may be legitimacy in many cases. But the question must be asked why there is seemingly no willingness on the point of those people either working at or inhabiting these buildings to at least keep things clean, rather than to contribute to the increased state of disrepair, and worse than that, accumulation of dirt.We have seen the example of the Katutura State Hospital, itself a controversial subject among the community.Facilities and even equipment may not necessarily be state of the art, but there appears to be no good reason or excuse for filth to be the order of the day, particularly in a health institution where hygiene is an absolute necessity – in fact a non-negotiable.A recent television news report on the dire state of a Caprivi educational institution is another example in point.College staff blamed the Ministry of Works for failing to maintain and fix broken infrastructure including plumbing, but a Works spokesperson said they made frequent callouts, on many occasions for damage and neglect which could be directly apportioned to the student body and staff.A general state of filth and abuse of facilities, including throwing items such as cans and plastic bags into toilets, is simply unacceptable wherever these occur.Regular newspaper reports point to the state of neglect and decay and accumulation of rubbish at a Government-owned block of flats.This, too, points directly at the residents themselves.There should be no good reason why they would expect Government agencies to pick up after their own neglect if they choose to live in filth.Recently it was also reported that a volunteer group had offered their services to the Katutura State Hospital to wash walls, scrub floors and even repair furnishings.While the work of such volunteers is highly commendable, it also begs the question as to what the cleaning staff of these institutions are doing with their time, and why they are being paid for jobs they fail to do.It is, generally speaking, an unacceptable state of affairs and Namibians should try to re-instil pride in themselves to keep up the cleanliness, at the very least, of their surroundings and environments.Again, the business community has been helpful in providing donations and/or money for the upkeep of many of these State facilities.No reason, therefore, why for example staff and/or students of educational institutions falling into disrepair cannot try to get donations of paint and cleaning equipment, to spruce up their various places of study and/or residence instead of always adopting an attitude that it has to be done for them.Many people express incredulity that Namibians appear so helpless or hopeless or, worse still, totally disinterested, in the upkeep and maintenance of facilities of which they should be proud.It is simply no excuse to put all the blame at the door of the Ministry of Works, especially in situations where there is a state of general neglect on the part of those complaining all the time.The spirit of volunteerism is markedly absent in Namibia, so we commend those few groups, as well as individuals, who take initiative to give their services free of charge to assist in clean-up campaigns, either at health facilities such as the State hospitals, or to clear garbage and other pollutants from the environment.If more Namibians were like them, and took matters into their own hands instead of constantly complaining, then we would not have these problems.Schools, in particular, should not allow students to simply mess up facilities.And if they do, they should be made to sacrifice their private time to keep their environments clean.To instil such discipline would probably help those students to think twice before littering or blocking plumbing, especially if they were made aware they’d have to fix it later.Finally, there could of course be those very legitimate complaints about the Ministry of Works, particularly when they concern specialist upkeep, such as air-conditioning and equipment.But Namibians should not continue to wallow in a state of filth when these are situations largely of their own making.Let us practise clean and responsible and hygienic habits in the interest of our living environments and the health of ourselves and others.But the question must be asked why there is seemingly no willingness on the point of those people either working at or inhabiting these buildings to at least keep things clean, rather than to contribute to the increased state of disrepair, and worse than that, accumulation of dirt.We have seen the example of the Katutura State Hospital, itself a controversial subject among the community.Facilities and even equipment may not necessarily be state of the art, but there appears to be no good reason or excuse for filth to be the order of the day, particularly in a health institution where hygiene is an absolute necessity – in fact a non-negotiable.A recent television news report on the dire state of a Caprivi educational institution is another example in point.College staff blamed the Ministry of Works for failing to maintain and fix broken infrastructure including plumbing, but a Works spokesperson said they made frequent callouts, on many occasions for damage and neglect which could be directly apportioned to the student body and staff.A general state of filth and abuse of facilities, including throwing items such as cans and plastic bags into toilets, is simply unacceptable wherever these occur.Regular newspaper reports point to the state of neglect and decay and accumulation of rubbish at a Government-owned block of flats.This, too, points directly at the residents themselves.There should be no good reason why they would expect Government agencies to pick up after their own neglect if they choose to live in filth.Recently it was also reported that a volunteer group had offered their services to the Katutura State Hospital to wash walls, scrub floors and even repair furnishings.While the work of such volunteers is highly commendable, it also begs the question as to what the cleaning staff of these institutions are doing with their time, and why they are being paid for jobs they fail to do.It is, generally speaking, an unacceptable state of affairs and Namibians should try to re-instil pride in themselves to keep up the cleanliness, at the very least, of their surroundings and environments.Again, the business community has been helpful in providing donations and/or money for the upkeep of many of these State facilities.No reason, therefore, why for example staff and/or students of educational institutions falling into disrepair cannot try to get donations of paint and cleaning equipment, to spruce up their various places of study and/or residence instead of always adopting an attitude that it has to be done for them.Many people express incredulity that Namibians appear so helpless or hopeless or, worse still, totally disinterested, in the upkeep and maintenance of facilities of which they should be proud.It is simply no excuse to put all the blame at the door of the Ministry of Works, especially in situations where there is a state of general neglect on the part of those complaining all the time.The spirit of volunteerism is markedly absent in Namibia, so we commend those few groups, as well as individuals, who take initiative to give their services free of charge to assist in clean-up campaigns, either at health facilities such as the State hospitals, or to clear garbage and other pollutants from the environment.If more Namibians were like them, and took matters into their own hands instead of constantly complaining, then we would not have these problems.Schools, in particular, should not allow students to simply mess up facilities.And if they do, they should be made to sacrifice their private time to ke
ep their environments clean.To instil such discipline would probably help those students to think twice before littering or blocking plumbing, especially if they were made aware they’d have to fix it later.Finally, there could of course be those very legitimate complaints about the Ministry of Works, particularly when they concern specialist upkeep, such as air-conditioning and equipment.But Namibians should not continue to wallow in a state of filth when these are situations largely of their own making.Let us practise clean and responsible and hygienic habits in the interest of our living environments and the health of ourselves and others.