Bong County – Unless urgent steps are taken to salvage the Tele bridge, the ailing structure may collapse in no distant time.
By Rancy Clarke, Contributing Writer
The structure is not only of strategic importance to villages in Yellequelleh, Bong, but also to residents of the satellite communities at Grand Bassa border with Bong County. Residents use the bridge daily to access Bong County for work, market, school and other social engagements.
The condition of the structure, the single longest bridge to be constructed across any river in Yellequelleh, which was commissioned in 1960, according to sources for public use, has further deteriorated with the head pillars showing signs of crack fueling fear among residents of its imminent collapse.
The Clan Chief of Garyea Clan, located in Yellequelleh, Singbah Kollie says the bridge might collapse if nothing is urgently done regarding its rehabilitation.
Kollie lamented that farmers’ produce remain with them and spoil due to the deplorable condition of the bridge which is their only means of transportation.
Commenting on the issue of health, Kollie expressed fear over the transportation of sick people via the bridge to Phebe Hospital, stating that it can be cut off any time.
“People in this town and nearby towns and villages survive through farming activities but the bad condition of this bridge is causing them fear to transport their produce to market. We can be very scared to transport patients over motorbikes to Phebe Hospital because we don’t know when this bridge will spoil.”
Also speaking, the head of the Motorcycle Union in Yellequelleh District, James Dukuly said their lives are at risk due to the ravaging impact of the bridge.
“Imagine, we carry people every day over this bridge, which is a risk to our lives”, he adds.
According to reports, there has not been rehabilitation work on the Yele Bridge since it was constructed in the 1960s.
