Chinese Government provides RMB 70 million grant -through February 2009 ETCA- for Omuthiya District Hospital Construction Project

Project narrative

In early February 2009, during an economic and technical cooperation agreement (ETCA) signing ceremony, the Chinese ambassador to Namibia, H.E. Ren Xiaoping, announced that the Chinese Government would provide a grant worth RMB 70 million to the Government of Namibia for the Omuthiya District Hospital Construction Project. This project involved construction of a 60-bed hospital in the town of Omuthiya in the Oshikoto Region. It included a medical building, an emergency department, a pharmacy, a laboratory, an operating theater, a central sterile supply department, maternity, pediatric and tuberculosis wards. It also included kitchen, laundry facilities, administrative buildings, a mortuary, an incinerator and doctors' and nurses' living quarters. China Jiangsu International Economic Technical Cooperation Corporation was the contractor responsible for implementation. Construction began on October 28, 2009. Then, a formal groundbreaking ceremony took place on November 15, 2009. A project design contract was signed on or around June 30, 2010 and the project was ultimately completed on May 1, 2011. However, upon completion, this project provoked significant domestic criticism and controversy. Namibian parliamentarians charged that the hospital suffered from poor workmanship. An estimated 13 million NAD was required to renovate it before it could be opened to the public. The Chinese project title is 所70床位的综合医院 or 援纳综合医院项目 or 比亚奥姆西亚市援建的一所70床位的综合医院.