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Senior Business Reporter
THE National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) says it is in partnership talks with three local companies for the refurbishment of its locomotives and wagons under a Public-Private Partnership arrangement in return for discounted rates.
NRZ board chairman Larry Mavima said the discussions would be concluded in the next few months.
“As we wait for funding that we require for recapitalising the NRZ, we’re currently in discussions with three local companies to repair our wagons and locomotives under PPP arrangements,” he said.
“Part of the deal will see us amortising what they would have spent over the years. We’ve seen that the PPP arrangement is one of the vibrant approaches which will benefit NRZ as well as those companies that would have entered into an arrangement with us as they’ll get discounted rates when doing business with the railways.”
Mavima would not be drawn into revealing the names of firms that the NRZ is courting under the PPP arrangement citing professional reasons.
Since 2014, the NRZ has said it was in discussions with the Development Bank of Southern Africa for a $650 million package to refurbish its ageing infrastructure and machinery that has outlived its lifespan.
No breakthrough has yet been made on the deal.
According to Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Joram Gumbo, the quasi-government institution has a total workforce of 5,700 workers, much higher than the company can support while operating at 30 percent capacity.
At its peak, NRZ employed about 20,000 workers and moved 18 million tonnes of freight annually. NRZ now moves less than100,000 tonnes weekly due to the effects of company closures and poor rail infrastructure.
Owing to low capacity utilisation, the railways has been financially incapacitated and thus accumulating a salary backlog amounting to about $68 million in 15 months.
Against this background, over 4,000 NRZ employees in March downed their tools demanding their dues.
The strike, which is ongoing has, however, seen about 450 workers returning to work as of last Thursday, said Mavima.
Responding to questions in Parliament Wednesday, Transport and Infrastructural Development Deputy Minister Michael Madanha said:
“What’s actually happening at NRZ is that the entity is not actually operating at a profit. Why? Because our railway line is now dilapidated and secondly, the rolling stock is now old to perform efficiently.”
Online Reporter