Cape Town - Pelican Park residents will soon get a brand new R46 million clinic, providing much-needed health services to the community. On Wednesday the City of Cape Town held a sod-turning ceremony signalling the start of construction at the site.
“After a long, ongoing process, and help from organisations, locally and nationally, we can finally agree and say our cry for better facilities has been heard,” said John Bailey, chief executive of the Pelican Park Owners Association.
Residents of Pelican Park have been depending on a mobile clinic which operated on Mondays and Wednesdays only, and many have raised concerns about the lack of health services.
“A year ago the mood was different with all our issues, but now the mood in the air has cleared and been filled with excitement.
“Now we have a forward momentum and are very happy with the project,” Bailey said. Construction will be concluded later this year and the clinic will be handed over to the community by December.
“Our next project is planning to add schools in our community.”
This facility will provide a full basket of primary health services as well as maternal and child health, reproductive health services, basic antenatal care, a nutrition supplement programme and prevention of mother-to-child transmission including adult curative and chronic services (TB, HIV and antiretroviral management).
"This is not just a project for us community members, but a social responsibility project giving back to our people. It will involve members of the community. The project is also part of job creation in our community. Members will be employed as security guards and neighbourhood watchers," said Bailey.
Fharan Classen, a member of the community, said: “I am very glad we are finally going to receive a better health facility. Now we can surely say our community is going to benefit in the longer run, not only for us as the elders, but also for our children and further generations.
“We couldn’t be happier with this project. This is the biggest project ever to be undertaken by City Health and it is also the first facility to be built from scratch since the construction of the Khayelitsha Environmental Health building,” said mayco member for safety, security and social services JP Smith.
“City Health is certainly very proud that we’ve reached this point and I’m hoping that the sense of pride will infect the locals for whom this facility promises easy access to quality health care and an improved quality of life,” he said.