*One of the many deplorable, makeshift bridges

By: Our Staff Reporter

Thousands of rural dwellers in one of Liberia’s most remote and underdeveloped counties, Rivercess County, are in desperate need of roads and bridges and have appealed to the Central Government to attach serious priority to these needs.

Residents of over a dozen towns and villages in Rivercess County had a single and common appeal that was made to Public Works Minister and his visiting team that toured that part of the country over the weekend.

The county, once a territory that gained county status in 1984, is one of the remotest counties in Liberia and is underdeveloped as well.

Minister Samuel Kofi Woods II and a delegation of other senior county legislative officials made several stops at inspecting and taking measurements of every single bridge from Grand Bassa County into Rivercess County via the upper part of the Timbo River, which divides both counties.

The visit included the county’s two senators, Senators Jonathan Banney and George Moore, the Ministry’s technical team including Deputy Minister for Rural Development and Community Services, Charles Carpenter, and sanitation technicians as headed by Minister Woods and accompanied by some journalists from the Capital.

The purpose was to explore those parts of the country that have probably been forgotten.

The rural dwellers said it was the first time that a cabinet minister had ever paid an official visit to them, which is why they danced and celebrated. This level of celebration hadn’t been seen since late December when the people of Belleh Yallah in Gbarpolu County saw a vehicle for the first time in their lives.

Minister Woods promised to take the message to President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf while at the same time promising to provide immediate sanitation solutions to some of them that are plagued with unsafe drinking water.

Residents of one such village called Banney’s Town used their bare hands to brush and make a road passable for vehicles trying to get to their village. They said the Timbo River is a major obstacle to their already-ancient livelihood because of the lack of a bridge over it that would allow them easy access to get to the other side of Grand Bassa.

A temporary assessment measurement was done so that a bridge could possibly be launched, which would provide real relief to the hundreds of residents in surrounding towns and villages.

Nineteen year old Abraham Banwon complained of carrying a heavy load over long distances on his heads due to the lack of a bridge over the river in addition to the lack of roads in their region.

He said: “We carry tins of palm oil over this river and carry them for whole one day just to get to either Korkor David’s Town (LAC in Grand Bassa County) or in Kenyah (another trading site across the river in Grand Bassa).”

Getting to the provincial capital of Cestos is completely out of the question for it is not only over three days of walking to get there, but several obstacles along the way serve as major deterrents.

Although Woods did not commit to building a bridge next to Banney Town, he stressed the need for one that would enable the determined people to have direct access to farm-to-market roads.

The trip was one of complete exhaustiveness and tedious travel on some of Liberia’s worst roads and unsafe bridge conditions; it was however worth it as the two days of travel in the rural parts of Rivercess County accorded the Public Works team and local journalists the chance to see first-hand the terrible living conditions of Liberians who are virtually cut off from the rest of the country simply due to the lack of better roads and bridges.