The National Council Committee on Health, Social Welfare, and Labour is concerned about congested public health facilities along the coast.

The committee is performing an oversight function, and the findings will be included in a report to be tabled in Parliament.

At the Tamariskia clinic in Swakopmund, the delegation was met with an overwhelming number of patients in endless queues.

There has been an influx there since the Mondesa clinic burned down five months ago.

"The biggest concern is the spacing, the congestion, the waiting time, the queues and the overcrowding, and also just the privacy in terms of people you know having to be seen by the doctor or to be assessed by the nurses," said committee vice-chairperson, Emma Muteka.

To make matters worse, the renovation project at the Mondesa clinic is progressing slowly. Muteka said, "They are still in the process of finalising the conversation and identifying the contractor responsible for the renovations of this clinic. We also asked them what the timeline is, and we stressed that we will hold them accountable. They indicated that it will be between two and three months, and we will have to follow up after two to three months to find out what the progress is."

While residents wait for the restoration project to begin, the committee recommended the use of alternative government spaces to relieve congested facilities.

"We are pretty sure that the government has properties that it can use to improvise, and this is the direction that we are motivating them to look into and explore, provided that there is a conducive environment, because we know that health is a sensitive sector and it requires a couple of things to be in place."

The committee is satisfied with repairs to the Walvis Bay District Hospital building.

About two years ago, committee members discovered dilapidated infrastructure, including a collapsed ceiling, at that state facility.