'Service consistency will pump uo RAIL VOLUMES

There are several reasons why rail container volumes have continued to decline in Botswana. According to Modise Koofhethile, CEO of the Gaborone Container Terminal (Gabcon), the ongoing decline in container volumes has been worrying and major efforts have been made to reverse the trend. “It is not always easy as more often than not it is factors beyond our control,” he told FTW. “One of the biggest reasons why we have seen volumes drop even more has been the fact that the second-hand car market in Botswana has significantly declined. This has been due to the market being saturated. It directly affected our figures.” He said another reason was that a number of investors remained uncertain about the environment in which they were operating and therefore reduced their orders, which saw fewer imports. “The landscape around permits and licences has not been very clear and in these uncertain times investors are being cautious,” said Koofhethile. “At the same time major construction projects have been declined or placed on hold.” He said another major challenge had been the transit times between the Port of Durban and Gaborone via rail. “Customers have been highlighting the inconsistency of the services and the lack of urgency for cargo on rail and have moved to road.” Koofhethile said with the groundbreaking of the Kazungula Bridge project there was hope that volumes would grow in the near future. “Other projects such as that of the coal mine and power plant in Mmamabula, along with some construction projects, are all good news for our business and could potentially return volumes to rail.” He said in this regard improved service delivery by the service providers was important as it would build confidence with customers and in turn some cargo would move back to rail. “We have to ensure we have a reliable service and so the lack of consistency, especially between Durban and Mafikeng, has to be improved. Because of this inconsistency we are seeing customers moving to road transport.” He said working on improving their own service and terminals was just as important. “Currently we are looking at developing our smaller terminal, PALCON, which is in the central part of the country.” CAPTION Gaborone Container Terminal … projects like the coal mine and power plant in Mmamabula, along with some construction projects, could potentially return volumes to rail.