Lomshiyo residents contribute E50 to fix damaged road
PIGG’S PEAK – The adage made popular by US 35th President John F. Kennedy, ‘think not what your country can do for you, think what you can do for your country’ was at play around Lomshiyo.
The residents there realised that it would take some time for government to fix the road and decided to do the job on their own.
Lomshiyo is one of the chiefdoms under Ntfonjeni Inkhundla.
Since last Wednesday, the community had been cut from the rest of the inkhundla, especially those using vehicles.
This was because the bridge that connected the community to the rest of the constituency was swept away.
It is not the first time the same bridge had been swept away due to heavy rainfall.
A temporary bridge was constructed after this, but it was also swept away.
However, residents gathered together to replace it. This was done last Friday. Bheki Maziya, who is one of the community leaders, said the residents decided to donate at least E50 per homestead to get the bridge fixed.
Maziya said the money was used to hire a heavy duty vehicle and also pay for fuel to assist in getting the bridge fixed. He said residents also arrived in large numbers, taking turns to assist in reconstructing the damaged bridge.
Children
Maziya also said the situation had returned to normal as children would now be able to go to school without fear of crossing rivers.
Themba Mohale, who is the Bucopho, said the constructed bridge was temporary while they were waiting for the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to build a proper permanent structure.
Mohale said initially, he had used his resources to construct a bridge but that it was swept away. He said this time, the residents also suggested that people should contribute so that they could construct a stronger temporary structure.
The bucopho said this would at least ensure that pupils were not stranded, but were able to go to school.
Mohale said he was also confident that the ministry would soon construct a more stable bridge that would last longer.