JOURNALISTS SHOWN SENA LINE DEFECTS

The publicly owned ports and rail company CFM has taken the step of taking journalists to the provinces of Sofala and Tete to show that the Sena railway is not ready for use, despite claims to the contrary by the Indian consortium Ricon.During the 600 kilometre journey from the city of Beira to the town of Sena, journalists were shown building work at railway stations that has not been completed, with various problems including poor drainage. In addition journalists saw sections of track lacking ballast and equipment in a very poor state, according to Tuesday’s edition of the newspaper “O Pais”.In the stations of Semecuesa and Berundi, 55 kilometres out of Beira, journalists noted misaligned rails, with some points either having too much or not enough ballast. As a result there are humps in the track in some sections.“The problem of a lack of drainage means that there is no guarantee that the route will be secure and passable in times of heavy rain. The absence of clean ballast in the correct amount can stop rainwater from seeping through. Of course, given the large volume of coal expected to be transported, this could create operational problems” explained CFM’s director of communications, Antonio Lebombo.Of the stations situated between Beira and Sena, only Muaza and Ihamitanga have been finished. In the opinion of Lebombo, along with other shortcomings, this is an indication that the Sena line is not fit for traffic.According to the chairperson of CFM, Rosario Mualeia, his experience of working with Ricon over the last six years has led him to believe that they will not conclude the rebuilding of the Sena line in the time stipulated, due to the technical and financial incapacity of Ricon. As a result Mualeia argues that they should return the management of the line to CFB by 24 April.On Tuesday the journalists left Sena for the town of Moatize, in the province of Tete, along the remaining 258 kilometres of line.In 2004 the Indian consortium of Rites and Ircon (Ricon) won the international tender to manage the Beira rail system, which consists of the Machipanda line from Beira to Zimbabwe, and the Sena line from Beira to the Moatize coal basin. The Beira Railroad Company (CCFB) was then set up, in which Ricon is the major shareholder with 51 per cent.Key to the lease was that CCFB/Ricon had to rebuild the Sena line to a standard that could carry millions of tonnes of coal exports a year from Moatize.But Ricon kept missing deadlines. It had promised to deliver the Sena line, fully rehabilitated, by September 2009 – but when the line was still not ready by December 2010, the government set in motion the procedures to cancel the Ricon contract.Ricon then promised to finish all major work on the line by 31 January, but this promise was not enough to prevent the government from notifying Ricon on 24 December that it intended to terminate the lease.