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Ngoni Dapira
GOVERNMENT has been urged to prioritise the overhaul of the railway system to make us of the Beira Corridor and Mutare Dry Port.
MDP general manager Mr Lawrence Takawira said over US$150 000 per month of revenue from containerisation business alone was being lost to Mozambique.
Mr Takawira said the corridor would be a distinct advantage for Mutare since it would be the point of entry and exit to Mozambique.
“The Beira Corridor is the shortest, efficient and economic route to the sea for Zimbabwe and most Southern Africa Development Community countries, but because of our poor railway system in Zimbabwe we are losing a lot of business potential.
“In 2010, when we started we could containerise about 150 containers per month, each at about US$1 072, which amounts to around US$160 800. This is a lot of money that could be circulating locally, but is all going to Mozambique,” said Mr Takawira.
He said at the moment the incapability of the National Railways of Zimbabwe to have reliable locomotives and wagons was the major concern which was leading exporters to prefer road transport.
Mr Takawira said the Beira railroad corporation, Caminhos de Ferro de Mocambique (CFM), was making strides to make the Beira Corridor a success, but Zimbabwe was lagging behind.
He said CFM had since refurbished the 317 kilometre railway line system from the Beira Port to Machipanda
“The challenge is with Zimbabwe and NRZ that is grappling to re-capitalise. If Zimbabwe complements the developments by CFM on the Beira Corridor railway system we would be talking big business for Zimbabwe.
“CFM now have a satellite tracking system to monitor their railway line to Machipanda, they bought about 306 new wagons for their locomotives and have since increased the channels of the port, which means the ports containerisation capacity has significantly improved.
“CFM also recently procured new cranes at the ports to address the problem of delaying the receiving of cargo,” he said.
He added that when MDP started in 2010 big exporting companies like Eastern Highlands, Border Timbers and Mashava Mine were keen to work with them but at some point there were delays for months by NRZ, which led the companies to opt for road transport despite it being more expansive than rail.
Mr Takawira, however, said dialogue had begun with NRZ and hoped Government’s commitment to the re-capitalisation of the parastatals would be done soon to open up for the lucrative opportunities posed by the Beira Corridor.
In the early 1990s at its peak, the Beira Corridor would carry about 4 500 tonnes of cargo daily.
In 1990 when the refurbishment project of the Beira Corridor set off it was envisaged the line and port would be in a position to handle about five million tonnes of cargo a year with special handling facilities for petroleum, grain, sugar, tobacco, cotton, tea, fertiliser, meat and other refrigerated commodities.
Established in Mutare in 2010 the Mutare Dry Port was born out of a partnership between Cornelder Mozambique (51 percent) and Zimbabwe’s Glenburn Investment (41 percent).
Online Reporter