Bridge to ease movement between villages

Bridge to ease movement between villages

Ezekiel Morake

The nearly complete construction of bridge between Ha-Paanya and Ha-Taka in Matsieng is to make movement between the two villages easy.

For decades the community of Ha-Taka had been struggling to walk over to Matsieng smoothly especially during rainy seasons as the valley between the two villages would be overflooded. This resulted in people cutting short their errands, going to work, school or Clinic. Ha-Taka is a village in Matsieng near Ha-Sekhobe, Ha-Paanya and Ha-Ts~ilo.

More than 2000 people use the gravel road between Ha-Taka and Ha-Paanya on a daily basis for various reasons and they are now happy that the bridge that is currently being built is going to be finished. A twelve (12) year old school boy was washed away by the raging water flowing down the Matsieng Mountain to the fields down the valley in 2010. Also a woman on the same year gave birth on the other side of the valley because she could not cross over to the clinic as the flowing water blocked the way.

A Ha-taka Villager Mammakhokolotso Nkoto (43) said it used to be very difficult to cross over to Matsieng because of overflooding at the valley they used to cross on.

“My son Lira Sefuthi (12) drowned in the gorge while trying to cross-over to Matsieng in 2010 from Ha-Taka. His death hit us badly and we are happy now that the building of the bridge is nearing completion for us to cross easily. Whenever it rained we were always worried that something bad would happen especially if children had gone to school and it rains before the arrive back home. In 2017 a woman from our village gave birth near where the bridge is being built because she could not cross over to the other side to go to the clinic with the women who had accompanied her,” said Nkoto.

She said she hoped that many cabs (Taxis) would be able to move in between the villages in numbers now that the bridge is being finished.

Tsotetsi Sheleshele (51) from Ha-Taka working at the bridge said many problems facing them were going to be resolved with the completion of the bridge. He reiterated what many told this Newspaper that many people were unable to go to work or school whenever it rained heavily. He said their lives were always in danger whenever they wanted to go Matsieng or town as they did not have any alternative route to use.

“A person was once washed away by the flowing water when he tried to cross but fortunately survived when he was disposed off on the field and villagers pumped out the water he had drank. The gravel road is always damaged whenever there are rains. We are happy that the bridge is being built and would be completed soon,” said Sheleshele.

He said more than 75 people were hired for the construction of the bridge and were working interchangeably with others, indicating that others would resume work at the beginning of every month. Sheleshele said people from Ha-Sekhobe, Ha-taka, Ha-Tsilo, Thaba-Telle and other villages would benefit from the construction of the bridge.

The Chairperson of Makhoarane Community Council Lebohang Makhetha the construction of the bridge was part of a 25 kilometer gravel road construction between Ha-taka, to Ha-Sekhobe and to Ha-tsilo so that villages could be connected to make the movement of people and goods easy. He said the construction of the road had been sponsored with M4 Million and that the District Council was part of the whole construction of the roads and bridges for the people.

Makhetha pointed out that the people of the above mentioned villages had been living in difficulty for many years, as that when there was a corpse, people had to carry the corpse on their shoulders while being placed on a ladder.