Lusaka - The Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority has signed a contract with a Chinese company to manufacture and supply 90 container wagons worth 36 million Chinese Yuan (approximately US$5 million) to accelerate transportation of cargo including copper and other minerals.
With the signing of the contract, the manufacturing of the wagons by CSR Meishan Company Limited of China for China Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC) will commence immediately.
According to a statement, the Chinese company had eight months in which to manufacture and deliver the 90 wagons, each one of which has a 50 metric-tonne carrying capacity.
The wagons are used in the transportation of containerised cargo and metals such as copper and manganese. The signing ceremony was done by Tazara managing director Dr. Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika and CCECC representative Miao Zhong.
CCECC Foreign Aid Projects Division project manager Fu Yanning witnessed the ceremony.
The Tazara managing director said: 'In view of the urgent need for various equipment and our determination to turn around this company in the shortest possible time, we are glad that the 14th Protocol is being implemented at an accelerating pace.'
He said they believed this would complement efforts to uplift the capacity of the authority to meet customer expectations in the delivery of quality transportation services.
The 36 million Chinese Yuan (US$5 million) facility is part of a US$40 million loan that the Government of the People's Republic of China granted Tazara through the two governments of Tanzania and Zambia under the 14th Protocol in December last year.
The signing of the supply contract follows the arrival last week of technical experts from China to assess and repair rescue and loading equipment as part of the implementation of the 14th Protocol Agreement.
Other components of the Agreement that are expected to follow include the supply of six new mainline locomotives, rehabilitation of three shunting locomotives and training of staff.
In June 2010, China planned to send experts to study and establish problems faced by Tazara to assist the facility revive its operations.
Chinese ambassador to Zambia Li Qiangmin recently said Tazara was a symbol of friendship between Zambia and China and that his country was saddened by problems the company, Zambia's leading carrier of copper and other cargos intended for export to Europe, was facing.
'We are sending a technical team to Tazara to investigate the railway problems and help them improve efficiency,' the envoy said.
The railway line, covering 1,870 kilometres, runs from Dar es Salaam to Zambia's Kapiri Mposhi where most mining companies load their copper, cobalt and other minerals for exports to Europe through the port of Dar-es-salaam in neighbouring Tanzania.
Tanzania's Infrastructure Development Minister Shukuru Kawambwa was quoted by the country's media as saying the financing was intended to save Tazara from total collapse as the company had been experiencing major operational and financial problems with a debt burden of over US$100 million.
'We aim at and are serious about bringing Tazara back to life.
This is one of the major infrastructural economies of our two nations as well as neighbouring countries,' Kawambwa said in Dar es Salaam.
Tazara was built in 1974 and commissioned in 1976 with US$500 million provided by China.
It is seen as the icon of friendship among the three partner states, Zambia, China and Tanzania.
The railway line has also facilitated trade links between Tanzania and other landlocked neighbouring countries including Zambia.
With the signing of the contract, the manufacturing of the wagons by CSR Meishan Company Limited of China for China Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC) will commence immediately.
According to a statement, the Chinese company had eight months in which to manufacture and deliver the 90 wagons, each one of which has a 50 metric-tonne carrying capacity.
The wagons are used in the transportation of containerised cargo and metals such as copper and manganese. The signing ceremony was done by Tazara managing director Dr. Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika and CCECC representative Miao Zhong.
CCECC Foreign Aid Projects Division project manager Fu Yanning witnessed the ceremony.
The Tazara managing director said: 'In view of the urgent need for various equipment and our determination to turn around this company in the shortest possible time, we are glad that the 14th Protocol is being implemented at an accelerating pace.'
He said they believed this would complement efforts to uplift the capacity of the authority to meet customer expectations in the delivery of quality transportation services.
The 36 million Chinese Yuan (US$5 million) facility is part of a US$40 million loan that the Government of the People's Republic of China granted Tazara through the two governments of Tanzania and Zambia under the 14th Protocol in December last year.
The signing of the supply contract follows the arrival last week of technical experts from China to assess and repair rescue and loading equipment as part of the implementation of the 14th Protocol Agreement.
Other components of the Agreement that are expected to follow include the supply of six new mainline locomotives, rehabilitation of three shunting locomotives and training of staff.
In June 2010, China planned to send experts to study and establish problems faced by Tazara to assist the facility revive its operations.
Chinese ambassador to Zambia Li Qiangmin recently said Tazara was a symbol of friendship between Zambia and China and that his country was saddened by problems the company, Zambia's leading carrier of copper and other cargos intended for export to Europe, was facing.
'We are sending a technical team to Tazara to investigate the railway problems and help them improve efficiency,' the envoy said.
The railway line, covering 1,870 kilometres, runs from Dar es Salaam to Zambia's Kapiri Mposhi where most mining companies load their copper, cobalt and other minerals for exports to Europe through the port of Dar-es-salaam in neighbouring Tanzania.
Tanzania's Infrastructure Development Minister Shukuru Kawambwa was quoted by the country's media as saying the financing was intended to save Tazara from total collapse as the company had been experiencing major operational and financial problems with a debt burden of over US$100 million.
'We aim at and are serious about bringing Tazara back to life.
This is one of the major infrastructural economies of our two nations as well as neighbouring countries,' Kawambwa said in Dar es Salaam.
Tazara was built in 1974 and commissioned in 1976 with US$500 million provided by China.
It is seen as the icon of friendship among the three partner states, Zambia, China and Tanzania.
The railway line has also facilitated trade links between Tanzania and other landlocked neighbouring countries including Zambia.
source: www.southerntimesafrica.com
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