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Posted November 9, 2006
Tribute To The Bridge That Crossed Us
By Gabriel Gworlekaju
Gworlekaju@runningafrica.com
News of the 'death' of Liberia's Mesurado bridge did not come as a surprise
but with lots of emotions and deep feelings from many Liberians who vividly
remembered their days on the bridge, whether during the time of war or
peace.
I find myself right in the middle of those emotional and awkward feelings
because I grew up in a city where the bridge was an economic life-blood, an
asset, and a pillar to the way of life. The mesurado bridge served as the
main link between the city of Monrovia and its suburbs, and was used by
everyone to do everything. But it finally plunged into the Mesurado river on
Monday November 6, 2006.
During peace time, the bridge was a major commercial route. Petty traders
used it to commute by foot; the handicapped used it to cross over to either
side of the city, the homeless used it to live there under and law
enforcement used it to regulate flow of traffic between the city of Monrovia
and Bushrod Island. Commercial vehicle owners and operators, and the
government transportation system used the bridge to determine fares.
Example: If from anywhere on Bushrod Island the fare was 15 cents on the
Bus, it jumped to 25 cents once the bus crossed the bridge. Many people
who wanted to reach the city center but could not afford 25 cents, paid 15
cents for the last bus stop in Vai Town, at the foot of the bridge, then walked across
which generally took less than 10 minutes. Most people who felt
it was a long walk from say places like Logan Town, Vai Town or New Kru Town
to the main city, felt some sigh of relief once they had crossed the
mesurado, better known as the Vai Town bridge.
But the Vai Town bridge also crossed people and things during the 15 years
of bloody conflict in Liberia. It changed hands between armed factions and
was a crucial source of control to the peacekeeping forces, especially the
West African Monitoring Group - ECOMOG. When the jailed former rebel turned
president Charles Taylor launched his Operation Octopus in 1992,
residents of down town Monrovia were plunged into a huge grim of fear that
the militias would over power the peacekeeping troops and over-run the city if they had successfully crossed either of the two main bridges. Had
they been successful in crossing the Vai Town bridge, they would have showed
up right under the Ducor Hotel which was home to officials of the interim
government including its president, Dr. Amos Sawyer. But as God would have
it, the peacekeepers relentlessly and forcefully bombarded the fiercely
determined rebels. ECOMOG had to use jet fighters to quell the rebel
onslaught. Significant in the Octopus operation was the fact that Monrovia
inhabitants used the two bridges (Vai Town and Gabriel Tucker) to determine
how much closer the blood-thirsty rebels had come. The Vai Town bridge was
also used by rebel insurgents to hide and sneak in weapons on either side of
the capital. Some of the worst killings took place on the bridge itself.
So now the Vai Town, the Mesurado or the Waterside bridge has collapsed,
what do we think? What do we say? What do we do? Many will have their
individual memories of the bridge and will reflect on how it crossed them.
It crossed and saved good people - but it also crossed and helped the
wicked. My friend Anthony always said how the bridge helped him and his
family. But I'm sure Mr. Prince Johnson, or Charles Taylor or Alhaji Kromah
would say something too about the bridge. Even followers of the late Samuel
Doe and Thomas Quiwonkpa will have their say. Whatever the story, that
bridge crossed us all one way or the other. We should remember it in our own
ways, and of course feel guilty and disappointed as a people for not doing
enough to maintain and upkeep the bridge. How much did past governments do
to maintain the bridge? What exactly will this government do?
While we as a people fumble with the answers to some of the above questions,
let it sink in our minds that we should never forget the bridge that crossed
us.
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