‘Big inconvenience’ says CEO
The Middelburg Provincial hospital was hit with a water crisis for six days after three of the underground pipes burst.
The water shortage affected the laundry, maternity ward, kitchen and general operations while patients could not be washed.
A patient who did not want her name to be mentioned told the Observer that no explanations, other than a pipe burst, were given to patients.
“We have to wait hours to get hot water and flushing toilets is a huge problem” the patient said.
CEO Philemon Letlalo said the matter is still being investigated. He refuted claims of lack of professionalism by the construction company.”
After the first pipes burst, attempts of getting it fixed caused the other two to burst. It seems that the water pressure is too high for the pipes.
And we should also take into consideration the fact that the hospital’s infrastructure is old. We have made an
appointment for the 6th of May with engineers to determine the exact cause of the problem.
” This is a very big inconvenience with patients having to use basins to bath and use limited water in the toilets supplied by the municipality. It’s is a hassle to get the hospital running. We have to boil water using stoves. I can safely say that the revamping of the road and maternity ward has nothing to do with the pipes bursting,” said the CEO.
On Thursday morning the laundry was completely shut, some patients are still using cold bucket water to bath.
