By Saykpekpo Innis, Contributing Reporter
Buchanan, Grand Bassa County – The reduction in budgetary support and the lack of logistical support are said to be among major challenges facing the Grand Bassa County Community College despite some achievements made in recent months, the President of the GBCC has said.
Dr. Nathaniel Gbasaygee said since he took office last May, internet service has been established on campus, ghost names have been removed from the institution’s payroll as well as the opening of a campus store and warehouse.
The GBCC’s President said due to the limited budgetary support, he was running the college under difficult circumstances.
But he praised the level of working relationship he has enjoyed with the staff and faculty to help improve the college in a positive way, whilst appealing to the government to help mitigate the challenges of the college by increasing its budgetary support.
There is still another challenge, which students say is of grave concern to the them—the deplorable condition of the bridge leading college’s campus which is said to be in a deplorable condition.
This has meanwhile prompted students of the GBCC to threaten to stage a peaceful demonstration to claim the government’s attention so as to do something about the present condition of the bridge
“We are going to do a peaceful demonstration to call their attention because there is a tendency in Liberia that if you don’t carry out a peaceful demonstration, they won’t come to your aid,” student Joseph T. Reed of the Business Department said.
According to the students, they are afraid to pass on the bridge because the timbers that were holding it are no longer in good condition.
“Most of the sticks have even fallen and left holes in between and we need to call the student body and have them informed on what action to take,” Emmanuel D. Zeon, another student reading Health sciences said.
Yet another student, Winston Smallboy Nathaniel expressed fear over the poor condition of the bridge saying, “the bridge is a death trap for us because it is not save.”
According to the students, they have engaged the administration of the college on several occasions but “they continue to pay deaf ear“ to their concerns.
However, GBCC President Gbasaygee told the students that the college is not responsible to reconditioning the Paynesburg Bridge but rather the Ministry of Public Works.
For his part, the Treasure of the Project Management Committee, Moses Gbehzohngar, quoted the Ministry of Public Works, said the actual cost of rehabilitation works on the bridge would be about US$50,000.
Mr. Gbehzohngar told the local Magic FM community radio in Buchanan, that the local Grand Bassa County’s administration could not afford that amount of money.
Instead, he said US$10,000USD was made available to the Ministry of Public Works in 2015 to do temporarily renovate the bridge in question to enable the students to go to school.
According to him, the durable solution to the problem is for the County Administration and the Grand Bassa Legislative Caucus to meet and hire a construction company to do a proper rehabilitation of the bridge.