Hospitals and clinics at Lüderitz do not have the capacity to handle the influx of new patients.
The town is currently experiencing an increase in population because of oil and gas developments.
Lüderitz State Hospital senior administrator Justice Shikolalye says they are looking for funding to renovate and expand the hospital because it is too small.
“It needs renovation and expansion. We have open space, it might be mountainous, but we have land for expansion.”
Shikolalye says they have consulted at a national level for funding, but there are still “no plans or feedback”.
“We did, however, receive an erf for a clinic that will be put up in Area 7, but this is still in the consultative phase”.
According to him, the hospital has enough resources for the current population, but not enough to cater for the anticipated influx of people.
“We will need reinforcement and expertise,” Shikolalye says, adding that they have recruited enough nurses but will need more equipment and staff members.
He notes that there has been an increase in patients and various diseases.
“We are continuing to experience gradual increases over time. We received more patients than normal”.
The Lüderitz Waterfront Development Company (LWDC) recently advertised bids to build a private hospital.
LWDC chief executive Samuehl Fluksman says it is concerning that, at present, Lüderitz is not coping with the influx of business people.
To leapfrog implementation of these development projects aimed at improving the living standards of citizens, bids were sent out to attract experienced and credible private investors to jointly own the seaview hospital project.
Fluksman says the proposed private hospital will be built on land fully owned by LWDC, and will provide a wide range of specialised medical services currently not available in the area.
“Through this development, LWDC aims to turn the harbour town of Lüderitz into a significant medical tourism destination and by extension, contribute significantly towards the smart city initiative.”
For various reasons, Lüderitz has become a most sought after destination, with business people and investors flocking to the town to acquire properties.
“The private hospital project, just like the proposed beachfront hotel, is very urgent,” says Fluksman.
“All these development projects were supposed to be operational already,” he adds.
According to Fluksman, the idea and subsequent rolling out of these projects started about 10 years ago.
LWDC bought large prime land in the town’s central business district.
“Again, I should emphasise that at the time of acquiring these pieces of land, there were no discoveries of oil and gas and no talk of green hydrogen,” he says.
“As optimists in our development approach, we always held the strong view that it was a matter of time for the harbour town of Lüderitz to rise again economically.”
Fluksman says Lüderitz has all the competitive advantages at its disposal, and needs level headed and strong leadership to drive development initiatives.
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