By: Ilyasa Baa
Campagnie Sahelienne Enterprises (CSE) has immediately started to mobilize their equipment and man power to commence the Bumpeh Bridge which has been out of use since September 2022.
The $8.5 million project was signed by the Director General of the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA) Ing. Amara Jambai Kanneh and the Desk Representative of CSE, Matta Lo,meaning the Senegalese company has been directed to start work immediately so that the bridge will be completed in twenty four months.
Ing Kannah established that the relationship between SLRA and CSE has been cordial so far noting that they believe the company will deliver accordingly within the specified time frame of the project.
Having won the bidding process and signed the relevant documents, it is now left with us to start full scale operation so that people will have access again on road”, the company stated, adding that for the time being, they are going to provide free crossing of people and goods from one end of the river to the other end, till the bridge is finished.
The 25metre bridge will have two lanes and a sidewalk to last for a period of one hundred years like the former Mabang Bridge constructed by the same company. However, the government of Sierra Leone is to provide five million Dollars ($ 5 million) whist BADEA is to support the project with $ 3.5 million.
Residents of Tikonko and Mattru have welcomed the project saying the government has acted responsibly to their plight by providing resources for the construction of the bridge.
It could be recalled that in a press release dated Thursday, September 1, 2022, the SLRA informed the general public that the Bumpeh Bridge, along the Tikonko Junction-Mattru Jong Road, was out of use as a result of an accident caused by a trailer transporting a heavy duty machine across the bridge from Bo to Mattru.