Calls for resuscitation of rail systems

Business Correspondent
THE country’s industry and mining sectors need a modern and efficient railway system if sound industrial transformation and economic production is to be realised, Zimbabwe Sugar Association president Mr Muchadei Masunda has said. Speaking at the sidelines of the Bindura Nickel Corporation annual shareholders meeting in Harare, Mr Masunda said National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ)’s failure to resuscitate its defunct railway systems had serious ramifications on investment into the country as it has pushed freight onto the roads, which is very costly.

“Our railway system is in dire straits and needs urgent resuscitation if industry and mining players can move freight at minimum cost and realise larger profits for growth.
“Take for instance sugar, we export around 50 000 metric tonnes to Maputo for Europe and we use trucks to move it to the port and some of the sugar, the raw sugar that leaves the Lowveld to be processed at the starafrica Sugar Refinery has to be moved ideally by rail, but because the railway is kaput, it hasn’t been possible to move the stuff cost effectively, so we are trucking it, and that has an impact on the ultimate cost of the commodity.

“In the case of Bindura Nickel Corporation, we had a pole treatment contract to move the material as it arrived at the port in Beira and Maputo, move it to Bindura, process it and ship it out, so it is more cost effective to move these bulky commodities by rail because as we speak, we need to get material coming from Australia, North America, South Africa and Botswana, but that has not been possible following the state of our rail,” he said.

The calls for the revival of the railway system comes at a time when road carnage has been on the raise, with analysts citing that roads are being eroded by the high traffic of heavy haulage trucks along the country’s major entry-exit highways linking our borders, hence a need to move these bulky goods by rail.

The country’s railway system was built during the colonial era and has outlived its lifespan as it has been poorly maintained due to lack of funds for its upgrade and has not been spared from rampant vandalism.

Earlier this year, Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister Dr Obert Mpofu, told a committee of Parliament that they would consider cashing in on the national railways’ assets abroad after wider consultations to raise capital and replace dilapidated infrastructure for the parastatal.

The NRZ has a stake in Pan African Minerals Development Company (PAMDC), diamondiferous concessions in South Africa, an entity taking over the mining concessions previously owned by ZIZA, a group that was jointly owned by the railways of Zambia and Zimbabwe.