A serious water shortage has hit the Beit Bridge District Hospital, forcing authorities to delay re-opening the institution further. The facility was closed to other cases in November last year, following the cholera outbreak in the border town.

The hospital´s chief medical officer, Dr Nyasha Masuka, said they were now referring patients to hospitals in neighbouring Musina and local private clinics for treatment. "We do not have adequate water at the hospital and, as a result of that, we have decided to remain closed until the situation has been addressed. We have a water storage tank, which was donated by a South African NGO at the height of the cholera outbreak in the district, but sadly, its capacity is just not enough to keep the hospital running," he said.

"The hospital has no mattresses and we need about a hundred mattresses in the adult wards, while in the children´s ward we require at least 50, as well as linen."

The hospital mortuary is also not functioning, following the breakdown of its cooling system and locals are now forced to take the bodies of their deceased relatives to local private funeral parlours, most of which are way beyond the reach of an average person. However, others resort to ferrying bodies to Musina mortuaries.

"We are now appealing to government and donors to assist us, so that the hospital can start op-erating again," Masuka said.

Meanwhile, nurses who spoke to Mirror have expressed concern over the latest development and called on the relevant authorities to address the problem as a matter of urgency. "Right now, it is somewhat difficult to operate in such an environment, especially during this time of cholera, and we are saying something has to be done as a matter of urgency to restore (water) supplies," said Mr Stanford Ncube.

Another nurse, who refused to be named, echoed Ncube´s sentiments: "We are equally concerned about the water shortage at the hospital and now it is becomes difficult for us to work in such an environment."

Due to its geographical location, the hospital also caters for the in-transit population, mostly ailing border jumpers, who would have been deported from South Africa through Beit Bridge border post.