Hargeysa, April 28, 2007 (SL Times) – The spring rains of April have damaged a local semi-footpath bridge constructed from the use of an old trailer shell body, which connects residents of Ahmed Guray and Akara neighborhoods of Hargeysa in Ahmed Dhagax district. The semi footpath bridge was originally part of truck’s rear trailer and was used by the residents in the area to cross over a deep trench dug by flash floods. Residents approached a local vehicle garage for the use of an unused trailer body in its compound to be used as a footbridge.

In wet and dry season, the bridge is used to cross the deep trench. However, over the years the semi footbridge has been sustaining damage caused by furious torrents coming from the hills each time it rains. At present, the footbridge is impassable and tilts deeply to one side-putting residents in danger. Some of the aged residents will try to cross the footbridge by holding onto the railings on one side of the footbridge and try not to slip over to the tilting side of the footbridge. Children can be seen playing on the footbridge and try to get close as possible to the tilting side of the footbridge in ‘dare devil’ stunt like games.

“We have no idea how to fix it, and don’t even know whom to inform at the municipality. It is difficult for us to communicate with the local authorities because no one takes any notice of us. We are poor people,” said Hawa Ahmed, one of the residents of Akara who spoke to Somaliland Times who went to investigate the damaged semi-footbridge yesterday.

When asked, “Who built this footbridge?” Hawa Ahmed replied, “We built it, when we could not get the local authorities to come and build us a footbridge”. Then she added, “One of our residents advised us that we could make our own footbridge by using an old truck trailer as a footbridge. We looked around Hargeysa vehicle garages and found one garage that was willing to donate to us a trailer body, but they asked us to arrange for our own transport to collect it. We then contacted the local authorities to ask them for their help to transport the trailer to our neighborhood. The local authority quite plainly said that it would not take part in this, because the trailer was not deemed by the local authority as ‘a safe utility for a footbridge’. We had to therefore use our own means to get the trailer over to our area. The semi-footbridge has been used by the residents for the past 8 years and had served them well throughout this time. We are in need of a proper footbridge which will last and not pose as a danger, and for now need the immediate help in fixing this footbridge.”

Source: Somaliland Times