Collapsed Timbo River Bridge Hinders Trade, Voting
Links between Grand |Bassa and River Cess and the rest of Liberia’s southeast remain cut off as a result of the collapse of the Timbo River Bridge. The bridge between River Cess and Sinoe C bounties reportedly collapsed recently, stalling the movement of vehicles and hindering commercial activities.
Vehicles and traders are reportedly stranded on both sides of the collapsed bridge for days now with very little sign of restoring the links between River Cess and Sinoe for the resumption of normalcy. The route is the shortest to the southeast of Liberia from Monrovia, as opposed to the Monrovia-Grand Gedeh route through which traders experience difficulties.
A source at the Ministry of Public Works informed this paper Thursday that attempts were being made by the authorities of the ministry to once more link the southeast and the capital, but did not say the extend of such attempts or how soon.
Stranded traders and commercial drivers may not only be complaining about the declining condition of their goods and services, but also their inability to vote in rescheduled Special Senatorial elections on Saturday. The situation may also discourage and prevent other voters based in Monrovia and elsewhere from returning to the southeast to cast their ballots.
Whether or not the collapse of the Timbo River Bridge has been a challenge to the National Elections Commission or NEC, especially in the deployment of its electoral staff, is yet to be made public. But a hint from the Commission suggests that most of the deployments had already been done, while Monrovia-Grand Gedeh route is being utilized.
