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The Tamde Bridge in the Garu-Tempane District, linking the Eastern corridor and the rest of the Upper East Region, has collapsed, cutting off the District from Pusiga and Bawku Municipal.

The bridge, constructed over a tributary of the White Volta more than 50 years ago, collapsed due to lack of maintenance and has left commuters and the people in the area in a difficult situation.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Tamde, Mr Atiswini Abugri, the Assembly man of the Tamde electoral area, said the bridge collapsed three months ago and this has created some inconvenience to the people who used that road daily.

“The situation has also brought socio-economic activities to a halt as traders can no longer move freely and those who do business between the area and neighbouring Togo and Burkina Faso cannot carry their goods to and from markets”, he said.

Mr Abugri appealed to the Government to come to their aid as farmers would not be able to send their farm products to the market when the harvesting period starts by the end of August.

More so, he said, teachers and nurses in the area who had to use the bridge to reach their work places were finding it very difficult to effectively attend to their duties and the situation is now a threat to the attainment of quality livelihood in the region.

Mr Emmanuel Avoka Asore, the District Chief Executive of the Garu-Tempane District, said the bridge was part of the eastern corridor road project and would be reconstructed when the project resumes.

Mr Asore said as part of efforts to promote the socio-economic lives of the people, the Assembly was liaising with the Ministry of Roads and Highways to refill the Azambasi Bridge which serves as a support to the Tamde Bridge in the western part of the area and that would be used until the main one is reconstructed.

He said commuters could also use the roads in the Binduri District to access Bawku and Bolgatanga.