Ramatex to be used as Covid-19 emergency centre.
The Windhoek municipal council on Thursday approved a proposal to utilise the Rhino Garments factory’s main warehouse at the Ramatex industrial area at Otjomuise for the establishment of an emergency care centre.
The centre will be operated by an entity known as the National Emergency Care Centre (NECC).
According to documents, the NECC will transform the Ramatex garment factory into a 500-bed facility – a project which will be implemented in phases.
The project aims to fill the gap between public and private healthcare facilities in terms of quality and cost of services.
According to documents submitted to the Windhoek municipal council meeting last week, the initial stage of the project will set up 200 admission beds and 50 intensive care unit (ICU) beds.
An additional 250 beds will be added in the second phase of the project, bringing the total number of beds to 500.
Windhoek mayor Job Amupanda last week on social media announced the project will be spearheaded by former minister of health Bernard Haufiku and the University of Namibia’s Peter Nyarango.
Council documents show the NECC will not pay the rent of N$17 000 per day which is normally charged for the premises.
It will, however, be responsible for running expenses such as water, electricity and security services, documents show.
The Windhoek municipal council has approved a reviewed five-year plan for the electrification of the city’s informal settlements.
Under this plan, which has been implemented since 2017, the municipality successfully electrified a total of 3 200 households at the Moses Garoëb, Tobias Hainyeko, Samora Machel and Khomasdal constituencies.
Under the revised plan, the municipality wants to electrify 1 500 households and 11 markets in the aforementioned constituencies before it is phased out at the end of the 2021/22 financial year.
The revised plan also aims to incorporate lessons learned during the implementation of the previous phases, which include “challenges associated with the electrification of land which is already occupied because of the mismatch between the township layouts and the actual situation on the ground”.
The congestion of people in some informal settlements also remains a challenge in the successful implementation of this project.
The municipality says it would require about N$700 million, or N$100 million a year, for eight years to complete the project to electrify all its informal settlements.
To this effect, the council last week approved a proposal to approach commercial banks seeking funds.
The Windhoek municipality has approached the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) to secure a loan of N$135 million to fund the construction of the second electricity bulk supply point to be known as the Khomas intake substation.
During last week’s council meeting the municipality resolved to enter into an agreement with the DBN for the N$135 million loan.
The signing of the agreement will, however, be subject to ministerial approval.
The proposed substation is expected to offset the forecasted power demand for Windhoek, which is anticipated to exceed the current notified maximum demand of 190 MVA by 2024.
“The proposed Khomas intake substation will ensure additional capacity to support the forecasted demand. The development of the new substation is being done in partnership with NamPower,” council documents state.
– Compiled by Sakeus Iikela
