Grand Bassa County – Students of the Grand Bassa Community College (GBCC) are worried ahead of the 2019/2020 academic school year, as the main bridge linking the campus to Buchanan city remains damaged.
Report by Augustine T. Tweah, [email protected] & Gerald C. Koinyeneh, [email protected]
The condition of the bridge has made the campus inaccessible, sparking fears amongst students, teachers and faculty about their safety.
Vehicles cannot ply the bridge and walking on foot seems risky for many commuters including students and other staff of the GBCC.
Monkonjay P. Smith, a student of the college, said the bridge has been damaged for more than two semesters and there has been no effort by the government to intervene.
“We have also had series of protest for the issue of the damaged bridge to call the attention of the county’s authority to fix the bridge, and still nothing has been done about it,” she said.
Recalling a dreadful incident that almost caused the death of a fellow female student while trying to cross the bridge, Smith stressed the need for quick intervention.
Ms. Smith further explained that at certain point, the administration of the college launched a dollar rally campaign to fix the damaged bridge but there has been no solution.
“At certain time, we refused to write the final exam due to the same issue because everybody said that they were not able to pass there because the bridge was already falling.”
She continued: “And then, they called a meeting and went as far as launching a dollar rally campaign for that same bridge issue.”
During last semester, several classes were moved the SDA High School and the Bassa High School when the river overflowed the bridge.
Another student, who spoke on the basis of anonymity, said he is worried that the bridge is still in a deplorable condition ahead of the new school.
“I am so worry about the condition of the bridge especially when we are about to begin school. The bridge is so scaring to extend that you sometimes don’t want to go to school again,” the student said.
When contacted, the president of GBCC Dr. Samuel K. Monwell described the bridge as a “hurdle and one of the major challenges confronting the college”.
“The bridge has become one of the hurdles for the Grand Bassa Community College. However, we have a greener light that the National Port Authority Managing Director has promised to underwrite 50% cost of that bridge, which will begin as soon as the rainy season subside,” Dr. Monwell said.
“We are looking for the second partner that will give us the other 50%. But in the meantime, we tried to strengthen the bridge by local materials so that we can go one or two semesters.”
Dr. Monwell estimated that the total cost for the construction of the bridge at US$600.000.