Concerned citizens and Chuchuliga youth embark on GHS20,000 self-help bridge project
Residents mobilise funds and volunteer labour to reconstruct a vital bridge after years of delays, restoring access to farming communities and local markets.
Residents of Chuchuliga in the Builsa North Municipality have demonstrated the power of unity and community self-reliance by embarking on a self-help project to reconstruct a collapsed bridge linking the Chuchuliga township to Naasa and several surrounding communities.
The communal labour exercise, spearheaded by the Concerned Citizens of Chuchuliga with support from the Chuchuliga youth, commenced on Friday July 3, after years of deterioration of the road behind the Chuchuliga market.
The bridge, which serves as a major access route for residents, farmers, traders and schoolchildren, has remained impassable for years, cutting off communities including Chondema, Awulansa, Adabeesa, Azue-Yeri, the Canal and Namosa from the Chuchuliga township, especially during the rainy season.
Speaking on behalf of the youth, Justin Ayaribisa said the community had waited patiently for the Builsa North Municipal Assembly to repair the bridge after repeated assurances that engineers would assess the site and commence work.
According to him, although the Assembly later explained that emergency repairs to schools damaged by rainstorms had taken priority, the community could no longer wait while their livelihoods continued to suffer.
“We realised that development should not be left to only our leaders. We are also citizens of this community, so we asked ourselves why we couldn’t do something for ourselves,” he said.
Ayaribisa disclosed that one of the community members, an engineer working with a district assembly in the Upper East Region, volunteered to prepare the technical estimates for the project. Following the assessment, residents levied themselves, made financial contributions and received donations from well-wishers to begin construction.
He explained that the bridge is vital to the local economy because it serves farming communities that transport produce to the Chuchuliga market and other markets within the municipality.
He noted that although the Assembly has numerous responsibilities, residents were disappointed that the bridge, which collapsed more than a year ago, had not received attention despite the taxes generated from the market.
“We are not happy because we pay taxes. This is a major market and people pay revenue to the Assembly. It is not every year that a bridge collapses, so we expected it to be fixed. But instead of waiting indefinitely, we decided to act,” he stated.
Ayaribisa said the project was initially estimated to cost more than GHS20,000, although the final expenditure will only be known after completion.
The Assembly Member for the Azug-Yeri Electoral Area, Thompson Ayaba, confirmed that he had consistently engaged the Municipal Assembly over the collapsed bridge.
According to him, the Assembly dispatched engineers to inspect the site and prepare estimates, but later indicated that financial constraints and competing emergency priorities had delayed the project.
He explained that after several months without progress, the Concerned Citizens of Chuchuliga mobilised themselves to undertake the reconstruction.
Ayaba said the bridge is a critical link connecting several communities to Chuchuliga, and its collapse had severely disrupted transportation, farming activities, trade and access to essential services.
He praised the youth and volunteers for sacrificing their time and resources to improve their community, adding that all demolition work and construction had been carried out through communal labour under the supervision of Engineer Emanuel Akumbisa, a native of Chuchuliga who offered his professional expertise during the project.
The Assembly Member stressed that the bridge project was neither funded by the government, the Municipal Assembly, any NGO nor any philanthropist, but was entirely financed through contributions from the Concerned Citizens of Chuchuliga and members of the community.
Residents say the initiative is a clear demonstration that unity, volunteerism and community participation remain powerful tools for solving local development challenges while they continue to call on the Municipal Assembly and other stakeholders to support long-term infrastructure development in the area.
Mike 105.3FM I Navrongo | Edmond Kwaching Agwaazeh
