Rail disruptions at the root of the problem An allegation by Mozambique that Zimbabwe is to blame for thousands of tonnes of its maize that has piled in danger of rotting on the dockside at Beira has been angrily denied by the Beira Corridor Group, responsible for overseeing transportoperations between the two countries.
Managing director David Zausmer says that a series of derailments in Mozambique, close to Zimbabwe, led to congestion on the rail line. This meant that maize shipments arrived in Beira all at once instead of being delivered at intervals. The director of the central division of Mozambique railways, Joao Azinheira, has been reported as saying that there is not enough storage space for 32 000 tonnes of maize at the dock and that 6 000 tonnes is in danger of rotting as it is stuck in rail wagons. Noticias newspaper of Beira quotes him as blaming this on the port users, saying that they have not timed deliveries with ship arrivals. That's untrue, says Zausmer. The consignments were definitely planned to coincide with ship arrivals. It's the disruption to rail movements caused by derailments that has caused the problem.
