Residents of Kavango West Region say they waited for far too long for the completion of the Nkurenkuru Intermediate Hospital, whose construction has been on hold for almost 10 years now.
Since its groundbreaking ceremony in November 2014, no construction has been done, apart from a fence that was erected.
It is a project that was about to bring relief to the people of Kavango West, but their hopes are dashed.
The acting CRO of the Kavango West Regional Council, Mathew Singambwe, questioned the delay during the NDP6 regional consultation by the National Planning Commission.
"When you budget, you allocate funds to a particular project. Before you reline your budget, you need to get back to consult, to see if this priority has changed and who has changed it. Because it's not only the Ministry of Health as a responsible ministry, but it's also affecting the residents, or in this case, the residents of Kavango West Region. Because we were not consulted as to why it has been removed."
The region is divided into two health districts: Nkurenkuru and Ncamagoro.
Currently, the region depends on the Rundu intermediate hospital in case of emergencies, which is about 130 kilometres away.
Ambassador Lineekela Mboti, NPC's Chief Executive Officer and Focal Point for the African Peer Review Mechanism, says it is a serious concern, and they will see to it that the region is attended to.
"We are all aware of the hospital; the issue of hospitals in this region is very important; probably to my correction, it is the only region that doesn't have a hospital. I stand to be corrected in the whole of Namibia, so it is a matter of agency. Whatever has happened, we are taking your concerns back to the central government. You were asking what we are doing; we want to plan back; we must bring the hospital in this region to its realisation; it was perceived that the tender board was corrupt, and then a new procurement board was created."
Kavango West, at the moment, has one hospital and 21 clinics catering to a population of 123 266.