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Govt seeks US$4.5m for Sena railway line
By
Our Reporter - 01-08-2002 |
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Government is today holding talks with potential donors for the possible financing of a US$4.5 million (K342 million) project to rebuild part of the Sena railway line to link the country to Mozambique’s Indian Ocean port of Beira.
Nacala/Beira corridors project coordinator Luke Jumbe confirmed in an interview in Blantyre on Tuesday that government was seeking donor funding to rehabilitate the railway line from the mining town of Moatize in Mozambique to Balaka.
The railway line has not been in operation for the past 20 years since it was destroyed during Mozambique’s post independence civil war, which ended late in 1992.
Jumbe said project designs have already been produced and that the government was looking forward to selling the idea to its development partners for funding.
“We have a meeting with some potential donors [today] for possible funding because this is a big project that will involve some major construction works of washaways along the route,” said Jumbe.
He said the railway line will open another route to the sea for the country. At the moment, Malawi relies heavily on the Nacala Corridor.
Of the total project amount, Jumbe said about US$2 million will be used for the rehabilitation of the rail work alone.
The rest will be used to construct strong embankments around Makanga area in Nsanje district where rivers feeding into the Shire flood the rail route.
Jumbe said the Mozambicans were also working hard to rebuild the line from Marrimeau Sugar Estates to Moatize.
He said as part of the preparations to revive the line, about US$1 million has been raised to de-mine some areas along the route on the Mozambican side.
According to South Africa’s Business Day issue of this week, six international consortia are bidding to rebuild the line in Mozambique at an estimated cost of US$350 million.
Mozambique’s transport and communications minister Tomas Salomao told the paper that Canada’s Canac, the Comazar Consortium jointly owned by South Africa and France, Mauritius’ NLPI, China’s Tenwin Holding, Motrade owned by South Africa and Britain and Zimbabwe’s Beira Corridor Rail Company are those bidding for contract. |
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