Rising waters submerge Kitwe’s bridge

Fri, 03 Mar 2017 11:09:20 +0000

By ROGERS KALERO

MORE than 500 peasant farmers in Sand Cells area of Kitwe’s Itimpi ward have been cut off following the submerging of the only bridge on Mwambashi stream due to the heavy rains in the last two weeks.

Some farmers in the area told the Daily Nation that the bridge got submerged because it was very low.

They were now asking authorities to construct a much higher bridge on the same stream to normalise their movement.

An on the spot check by ward councillor Mwaya Mpasa revealed that the peasant farmers in the area were cut off as they were scared to cross the crocodile-infested stream where many people had been attacked and killed by the marauding reptiles.

Ms Mpasa said it was dangerous for the peasant farmers and school children to cross the stream whose bridge had been submerged following heavy rains. “This bridge on Mwambashi stream is submerged due to heavy rains.  On the other side, there are peasant farmers and school children who use this bridge every day to come to Garneton and other parts of the ward, but they can’t use the bridge now because it is risky.

“It is risky because any attempt to cross the stream on a submerged bridge may prove fatal because they may be attacked by crocodiles,” she said

Ms Mpasa explained that in the past, people had been attacked by crocodiles when attempting to cross the stream on a submerged bridge.

“So in short, more than 500 peasant farmers have been cut off from the rest of the ward,” Ms Mpasa said. Ms Mpasa has appealed to the Road Development Agency (RDA) and the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) to work together to ensure that a wider bridge started five years ago was completed.She said the situation was bad because even schools in the area had been closed due to the fact that the school administrations did not want to risk the lives of pupils crossing the stream on a submerged bridge.

“What we have here is a disaster in waiting, and it is imperative that relevant authorities like RDA and DMMU find a solution to the issue of the bridge here or else if nothing is done, we may lose lives as people attempt to cross this stream,” she said.

Ms Mpasa also expressed concern at the bad state of the roads and bridges in the ward and this was why she had to fight for the grader to work on some roads.