Pleas for transporters to familiarise themselves with the current state of affairs in Mozambique, after Cyclone Idai wrecked large parts of the port of Beira, have been received from over-border operator J&J Transport Africa . The company’s chief commercial officer, Christian Roeder, told FTW last week that there was a lot of confusion among overseas and regional clients “as to the extent of the damage to the Beira corridor”. “Many people are considering re-routing cargo because they have
been misinformed or have misunderstood reports about the devastation in Mozambique,” he said. The most distressing and alarmist misinformation that has circulated, Roeder added, was about Beira having been 90% destroyed. It had created the impression that the port was still vastly submerged by floodwater, while this was not necessarily the case. “The fact of the matter is that the port is fully operational again, customs are up and running, most warehouses are operational, networks are mostly back, and the EN6 highway and all major routes to Tete, Zimbabwe,
Zambia, Malawi and the DRC are operational again.” But Roeder also warned against transporters using the EN1 South to Maputo, especially as it has a payload restriction for the national road bridge crossing the Save River. Nevertheless, he emphasised, “it’s amazing how quickly things got back into swing again”. Moreover, from a humanitarian point of view, Roeder stressed that the corridor was an important lifeline for locals living along the route, and that
Mozambicans were desperate for life to return to normal again and relief efforts to continue unabated in order to repair the extensive damage wreaked by Idai.
It’s amazing how quickly things got back into swing again. – Christian Roeder
