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Govt. welcomes inter-mine railway programme by ZR limited
Kitwe, August 27th, 2014, ZANIS —- Government says it is concerned about the increased tear and ware on most roads due to loaded trucks carrying heavy cargo mainly from the mines.
Ministry of Works and Supply deputy minister Mwimba Malama says his ministry is concerned on the number of dilapidated roads which has made government to spend millions of kwacha to maintain the worn roads.
Mr Malama said government wants to see a situation where most of the bulk and heavy cargo is transported by rail.
He said government is focusing on rehabilitating and developing the railways including the inter-mine routes on the Copperbelt where the damage has been worse than in other parts of the country where there are no mines.
The minister said this in Kitwe today during the Zambia Railways Limited Inter-mine workshop.
Mr Malama stated that government has released US$120 dollars from the Euro-bond to go towards the revival of the inter-mine rail –routes which he said were making positive progress.
The Deputy Minister appealed on the mining companies and other companies involved in the transportation of heavy cargo to make use of the revived inter-mine routes to reduce the damage caused on the roads by heavy cargo haulage.
He urged the mining companies against forcing government to use statutory instruments to compel them to use the rail to transports their heavy cargo.
And speaking earlier, Zambia Railways Chief Executive officer Professor Muyenga Atanga said the revival of the inter-mine routes will help boost the revenue generation of the company.
Professor Atanga said the company has made tremendous progress in reviving the inter-mines using the US$120 Euro-bond which government allocated towards the revival of the inter-mine routes, which he said will soon be operational.
Meanwhile, Professor Atanga disclosed that Zambia Railways will soon unveil a state of the art modern passenger train to be named ‘Golden Jubilee’ Train.
He said the launch of the train will be a Golden Jubilee gift for the people of Zambia as they celebrate Golden Jubilee this year.
The inter-mine routes were abandoned by the Rail Systems of Zambia and most mining companies had destroyed their infrastructure for the inter-mine rail routes.
