Consignments from Durban are taking
three weeks, writes Martin Rushmere
NATIONAL RAILWAYS of Zimbabwe has blamed an operating loss of R90 million in the first five months of this year on difficulties in getting fuel.
In a confidential circular g.m. Sam Zumbika says that a loss of R80 million was forecast, but the volume of goods moved was down from the forecast 4.4 million tonnes to an actual 3.3 million tonnes.
"The bulk of the deficit was in March when lack of diesel affected the movement of trains, both freight and passenger," he says.
Extra problems were caused by the need to carry out a High Court order to pay workers' arrears. This led to 76% of revenue being used for salaries and wages, compared with the budget of 55%, which was still much higher than the 35% laid down by the government-owned corporation's long-term management plan.
In the last two months
the woes have worsened, because of rampant theft of equipment on the line from South Africa.
Shippers say that consignments from Durban are taking three weeks instead of the scheduled six days because signalling equipment has been stolen, which has meant that communication between sectors and stations is very slow.
