Kusawgu (NR), Jan. 22, GNA - The only steel bridge linking about 25 farming communities with a population of about 7,000 to Kusawgu in the Central Gonja district has collapsed, hindering the people in the affected areas from traveling to Buipe and Tamale. The previous NDC administration under Ex-President Jerry John Rawlings built the bridge in 1994, with assistance from the Japanese Government when that area was cut off due to excessive rainfall that made access to the area impossible. Communities affected include Kpejinpe, Tuliwe, Adape, Wuripekura, Suku, Kolfo and Digma where yam, groundnuts and millet are produced in large quantities.

Alhaji Amadu Seidu, Member of Parliament (MP) for Yapei-Kusawgu who visited the bridge to assess the situation, appealed to the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) to immediately repair the bridge before the next rainy season sets in. He said an articulated truck which was loaded with cement and other building materials caused the havoc a week ago when it was sending the materials to Tuliwe, and that if assistance was not immediately given those communities would continue to suffer. He said as a temporary measure the GHA should mobilize some components to reassemble the bridge to be used by foot, while funding would be sought for its total reconstruction.

Alhaji Amadu said engineers indicated that some 65 bolts had been removed from the bridge, thus weakening its base and suspected they could have been removed by tractor operators plying the route. He appealed to community members to be watchdogs of the remaining parts of the bridge to ensure that they were not stolen, while the District Assembly and government would see how best to tackle the problem. Mr. Issifu Salifu Be-Awuribe, DCE for Central Gonja, expressed worry about the situation and said the Assembly alone could not tackle the problem. He appealed for assistance from donor communities to reassemble the bridge. He said under the present circumstances farm produce from the affected communities could not be transported to marketing centres, while farmers could not receive inputs for production.