The Butibum Again
p. 24 · Read in the full issue
In late July, after nine inches of rain fell in 15 hours in Lae, NG, the bridge over the Butibum River collapsed into the swollen stream—and the tangle shown in this photograph resulted.
This bridge over the Butibum was Lae's only connection with the Malahang Native Hospital, Anderson's freezer, the brickworks, the Lutheran dairy and the sewage farm.
At the time the bridge collapsed, the plight of the native hospital was made worse by the fact that the Busu River which flows into the sea near-by, was also in flood.
Before communications were cut, the District Commissioner sent a two-way radio out to the hospital so that it could keep in touch with Lae. A tem porary wooden bridge will be used across the river until steel from the old bridge is salvaged and a new structure built —at an estimated £lO,OOO.