THERE was chaos at Parirenyatwa Hospital’s maternity wing, Mbuya Nehanda in Harare, last weekend following power cuts in the critical section, which was also unmanned as the nurses are on strike over poor wages. BY PHYLLIS MBANJE NewsDay understands that the power cuts persisted throughout the weekend. Maternity wings are the most vulnerable and Mbuya Nehanda has been struggling since the onset of the industrial action which has paralysed service delivery. “It’s sad that women and their newborn babies are being subjected to such conditions. The government needs to pay the health personnel as well as capacitate the institutions,” a source at the hospital said. Parirenyatwa Hospital experienced water pipe bursts, which resulted in corridors being flooded. Authorities at the institution said the situation was being resolved. “We wish to advise the public that we experienced power and water challenges during the weekend. The power outage at Mbuya Nehanda has since been sorted. Our engineering department is working flat out to repair the burst water pipe and normal supply will be restored soonest possible,” Parirenyatwa said in a statement yesterday. At Sally Mugabe Central Hospital, the situation is equally dire with reports that critical sections, including the X-ray department, were unsupervised, while theatres were said to be closed. “The hospital is full of Nyaradzo (funeral parlour) ambulances with dead bodies to be certified. This is not working,” a doctor from the hospital, who refused to be named, said.