Youth of Sag-Baalong petition government over abandoned killer bridge

The Youth of Sag-Baalong and its surrounding communities in the Wa West District have petitioned the government over an abandoned broken down bridge that claimed two lives in the community last year.

The petition, which was signed by two of the youth leaders, Patrick Bonye and Helen Gbiel, stressed the magnitude of suffering the people had been going through since the bridge which was under construction got abandoned in June last year by an unnamed contractor.

It said the bridge, which linked the community to other communities in the area, did not only claim two lives as they tried crossing it during the rainy season but also prevented pupils from attending school and virtually gave teachers of the two basic schools automatic holidays.

It also prevented farmers from crossing to attend markets with their farm produce and denied them access to immediate health care.

The youth chastised the Wa West District Assembly for living the community out in the rural electrification project, saying it would cost pupils in the two basic schools their ICT lessons.

They are therefore appealing to the government and NGOs to come to the aid of the community to complete construction work on the bridge to save lives.

They are also calling on the District Assembly to include them in the list of communities that are to benefit from the rural electrification project.**