No free land for MOHSS

The Swakopmund Town Council will not give a huge piece of land to the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) for free to construct a brand new Regional Referral Hospital in the town. Although a piece of land was in principle allocated to the ministry a few months ago, the ministry recently applied for the freebie.
The initial application for the construction of a new Regional Referral Hospital in Swakopmund dates back to 2015. During the Council meeting in November 2015 it was decided that two portions of land will be sold to the ministry for the intended purpose. One erf will measure about 20 hectare and will house the new hospital while a second erf, measuring just more than 7000 m², will be sold for the expansion of the Tamariskia Clinic. The purchase price for the land would be determined based on the average of three valuations.
In a letter sent to the Municipality in April this year Dr Andreas Mwoombola, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Social Services, states that a new Regional Referral Hospital will benefit the Municipality of Swakopmund by ensuring that health services are brought close to the community. “Hence the Municipality of Swakopmund should avail the land at no cost to MoHSS to fulfil its mandate,” the letter states. Dr Mwoombola reiterates that once the land for the project is made available the Ministry’s consultants will carry out the feasibility study and design layout.
In the Agenda of the recent meeting similar applications from Government institutions are considered, one such stemming from the Ministry of Safety and Security. “NamWater also applied for a portion of land at a low purchase price and the donation of land might result in various similar applications from government institutions,” it states in the Agenda. Because of the above Town Council decided not to donate the land due to budgetary constraints and also due to Council’s commitment to the community to provide serviced residential land at an affordable price.