Namibian capital sets aside 2.7 mln USD for toilets amid Hepatitis E outbreak

WINDHOEK, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Mayor of Windhoek, said Tuesday that the Namibian capital would spend 32 million Namibian dollars (2.7 million U.S. dollars) on building toilets and installing more water points in the informal settlements where hepatitis E has affected more than 400 people.

It is believed that half of Windhoek's 400,000 population stay in several informal settlements dotted on the outskirts of the city.

Most of the informal settlements have no electricity, and the residents do not have access to potable water.

The health ministry that declared a hepatitis E outbreak in Nov. 2017 said the disease originated from the informal settlements.

When the health ministry declared the outbreak, hepatitis E had killed one person and left several others affected.

On Thursday last week, the health ministry announced that a second person had died because of the disease and that the figure of the affected had risen to more than 400.

Speaking during a breakfast meeting in the capital, Mayor Muesse Kazapua also said they would allocate part of the money to electrifying some areas of the informal settlements.

"We will continue with the formalization of informal settlements by appointing successful contractors from the expression of interests that was floated in 2017 to service the land and build houses," Kazapua said. Enditem