Govt help sought to fix bridge

A FOOTBRIDGE built in the 1960s and serving at least 1,200 people living in the Imbonggu district of Southern Highlands is likely to collapse soon and needs immediate repair.
Community leader Donnis Seket told The National they needed help from the provincial government and Imbonggu District Development Authority to rebuild the Una-Esmare footbridge.
He said there were two churches, the Christian Union Mission and Reformation Ministry and Churches Network in the area, and many students attending Una, Sumia and Pinj Primary Schools used the bridge.
He said the bridge was extremely dangerous when wet as it was slippery.
“Many subsistence farmers also use the bridge.
“Now when the majority of the timber have rotted, they cannot cross with heavy loads.
“Our lifeline is the bridge and our appeal for a permanent footbridge over the years have fallen on deaf ears,” he said.
Seket said they carried pregnant women and the sick on stretchers across the bridge but it was risky now.
He said Lai River was swift and people had drowned there.