Okondjatu: Residents of Okondjatu in the Otjozondjupa Region are set to receive a healthcare facility when the newly constructed Okondjatu Clinic is officially inaugurated next Friday, ending a 14-year wait for the project. The Ministry of Health and Social Services' Chief Health Programme Officer for Infrastructure Management, Martin Mukulu, told a community meeting at Okondjatu on Wednesday that construction of the clinic is 98 percent complete, with only the installation of mortuary equipment outstanding. "The mortuary equipment is not part of the contractor's scope of work, therefore, a separate tender will have to be advertised," said Mukulu.According to Namibia Press Agency, plans to construct the clinic date back to 2012. However, the project was canceled in 2014 after the contractor failed to complete the work. Three other contractors were subsequently awarded tenders worth N.dollars 9.3 million, but they also failed to complete the project. In 2020, the current contractor was awarded a 14-month con tract to finish the clinic and successfully completed the project on 15 June 2026. "What is important now is that the community will be able to make use of this modern clinic from next week following its official commissioning," Mukulu said.The facility comprises a delivery ward, treatment room, two offices, four patient admission beds, seven consulting rooms, a waiting area, storeroom, reception area, and medicine dispensary. Acting Senior Medical Officer for the district, Dr. Kalatenga Kongolo, said the facility could eventually be upgraded to a Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC), as both the infrastructure and population served meet the requirements for such a designation. Kongolo explained that a PHC is staffed by two medical doctors, a dentist, a nurse manager, 28 enrolled and registered nurses, a driver, two emergency practitioners, a laborer, and two pharmacists.Otjozondjupa Governor John ||Khamuseb said there should be no further delays in opening the clinic, noting that residents have been waiting f or the facility since 2012. "Currently, Okondjatu residents travel to Okakarara and Okamatapati, and opening of the clinic will ease pressure on those facilities," he said. Otjozondjupa Regional Council Chairperson Paulus Nekundi, who also attended the meeting, urged the health ministry to consider constructing accommodation for nurses at the facility. Okakarara Constituency Councillor Kapika Tjaverua said more than 15,000 people are expected to benefit from the new clinic.