Located in the east of the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown lies an old arch bridge in Kissy community. The bridge is specifically place over a stream located at Granville Brook but which has now been termed as Kissy Brook.

The bridge in question is placed opposite of larger one on Blackhall Road used by many motorists and pedestrians living in one of Freetown’s largest suburbs, Kissy and its surroundings like Wellington, Calaba Town (if you’re going out of town) and Fourah Bay (if you’re heading to town).

In fact, the two bridges are placed above the same stream and it would have been impossible for one to use that axis without either of the bridges especially motorists. Although many people are with the conception that the smaller bridge is of less importance, the reality is far from it. One can only conceive it if they venture into the community and a busy market called Bottom Mango that rely on the bridge.

The population of the community has exponentially shot up since the end of the country’s interregnum in the nineties and early two-thousands. Most people that fled war in the interior never returned; they found homes in communities like Kissy and its environs. Now with poor planning, most houses are crammed together -little or no space for motorists leaving only colonial roads or streets that were constructed oblivious of the future.

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In fact, one can feel the presence of the wealth gap that is quite visible in Sierra Leone in this community. There are several condos and duplexes that grace the only motorway in the community. Just a few paces away from them are many shacks and mud houses that line up along a stream that only flows in the wet season. Children with only knickers normally play along the banks while their parents launder dirty clothes.

Because it was in the driest month of the dry season, one can easily cross the stream by stepping on rocks. There is very little water but one ought to use the rocks or risk stepping on mud. One could, perhaps, surprisingly hear the buzzing sounds of mosquitoes in a hot afternoon.

The population of the community is unclear for now but Politico Newspaper in 2021 reported that the community has over 2,000 people.

“The population of this community has grown at an accelerated pace in the past two years,” said Chief Pa Alimamy Kamara N’sapor, the tribal head of Kissy Brook Community. The old man told Sierraloaded that the bridge is very important to the community but complained that the it is on the brink of collapse.

“We have pleaded with authorities especially the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA) to help fix that bridge but we are yet to get a positive response,” the chief said. He pleaded with the government and humanitarian organisations to assist them reconstruct the bridge.

The old man said that the bridge has been in a deplorable condition for about a couple of decades now and referenced that it is the only vehicular access to their community.

Climbing a steep stair coming from the barri of Chief N’sapor, I met some men sitting on two benches and in between them was a ludo game. Most of the men were in their late 20s to early 30s I presumed.

One of the men, Abdul Karim Bangura with a buzz cut and dressed in a blue football jersey and black short was willing to speak to me when I introduced myself to him.

According to Bangura, the bridge is beyond repair. He added that only experts could repair the bridge now.

“SLRA has been here and even instructed us that we should not allow heavy duty vehicles to use the bridge because of its condition,” the young man said.

Bangura said it is his belief that the bridge will not last for another two years without collapsing.

“Despite its (Bridge) dire condition, we still allow cars to use it because it is their only route in and out of our community,” the young man said. He added that the community people have been making little financial contribution to patch the falling bridge.

“The condition of the bridge is not improving even with all our efforts and many in the community dread the wet season which is around the corner,” he said.

The young man recalled a previous wet season when a heavy downpour led to flooding and destruction of some wooden stalls on the bridge.

He said they are still continuing to ask community members for fund but that could not be enough. He pleaded with the government, humanitarian organisations and philanthropists to assist in reconstructing of the colonial bridge.

The majority of the community people that use the bridge does not live close to it; most of the dwelling houses are located a little bit further inward.

People outside the community also use the bridge to access the Bottom Mango market. In fact, there are wooden stalls on the bridge where market women place their products on trays and plastic bowls. Some attach nails to hang seasonings and some black polythene bags for sale.

Isatu Conteh is a widow in her early fifties with seven children. She owns stall on the bridge and use proceeds of her pepper hawking to take care of her children. Conteh was dressed in a black African garb with a wrapper on her waist shielding a black purse from public’s awareness.

“Most of my children are school going pupils and I fend for them at this (pointing) at this my stall from the pepper, onions and seasoning that I sell,” she said.

The hawker added that although profit has fell down lately, she is still grateful that she can utilise her space on the bridge to do her trading.

Opposite the stall of Conteh, the Chairman of the market stood staring at the deplorable condition of the bridge. The middle-aged man with a black throb introduced himself as Johnta Pia Sesay.

“Over twenty stalls were destroyed the last time the bridge flooded in the wet season and it is my belief that that occurred due to the fact that the bridge is old,” the Chairman claimed. He also stated that the current of the stream has increased over the years due to the population boom of the Moeba and Upper Blackhall Road communities.

“The bridge is low and the waterway beneath is small now more especially when plastic waste that gush forth clog it.

“When that occurs the water escapes sideways and flood the market destroying stalls, houses and other valuable,” he said.

Sesay said that had not been for the effort of the community people the bridge could have collapsed and added that it was high time government and other humanitarian organisations intervene.

Whether the government had plans to intervene anytime soon could not be ascertained by this press. However, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA), Keifa Jaward told Politico Newspaper that the bridge was being assessed by the Road Maintenance Fund (RMF). Jaward said, at the time, that the bridge could have a life span of five years (2021-2026).

The PRO said one of the reasons for the bridge not being reconstructed was due to the fact that the SLRA has insufficient funds at the time and that there were other focal projects elsewhere to attend to.

I stood on the main Kissy Brook Bridge to take a final glance at the small market bridge. The stream below has little or no water but the most visible sites are the wooden stalls that stood leaning and a barrage of empty water sachets and bottles waiting to clog the bridge’s waterway this wet season due in a couple of months from April.