MBOMBELA – The health department’s subsidised housing for doctors will be ready for occupation early next year. It seemed the 10-storey building located at Rob Ferreira Hospital had been standing empty and unused for months, but the department says construction is only being finalised now.
Last week the department explained that the building was not in use because construction had not been completed. Health MEC Mr Gillion Mashego told Lowvelder that the contractor was completing the final touches. “I was hoping that we could start using it this month already, but the contractor is still on site doing touch ups. Now we can bring doctors in there from January.”
The building consists of 150 housing units for doctors at the hospital. It was constructed as part of Rob’s revitalisation project.
According to the department’s annual report of 2012/13, a total of R231,8 million was budgeted for the housing unit, said the provincial DA. In the annual performance plan for the current financial year, a further R7 million had been budgeted for the same project. Yet, nothing was on the books for the previous financial year, the party said
Mr Dumisani Malamule, spokesman for health, said the initial plan was to get the building ready for occupancy by December 12 but due to a delay in the supply of material the delivery dates had been revised to January 31 and March 31 for the second phase. He said the project was being carried out over several years.
“Each and every year an allocation is made based on cash-flow projections made by implementing and principal agents until the project is completed. The funding budgeted for in the current reporting period is for completion of the facility on March 31.”
Malamule said as a result the hospital spent R3,2 million on rentals for accommodation in 2012/13. Mashego said the department planned to use the rental money from when the staff took up occupation to upgrade the nurses’ residence, which was in need of renovation. He added that the department had had challenges in obtaining a certificate of occupation from Mbombela Local Municipality (MLM).
“Mbombela had issues that were related to the building’s planning stages, technical issues like the rezoning of the land. I called a meeting with it and with the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport (DPWRT) and we were granted a temporary certificate of occupation on Wednesday December 10.”
DPWRT spokesman Mr David Nkambule confirmed that MLM had granted an occupancy certificate. At the time of going to print the municipality had not yet responded to the newspaper’s questions.
