MBABANE - The flood season's on-going tabulation of road infrastructure damage calculated by the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation has now reached R53 million. The cost of repair work is certain to rise, says chief roads engineer Trevor Tshabalala, as more bridges and roads are inspected for storm damage. The estimate is already double what it was two weeks ago, says Tshabalala.
Meanwhile, round-the-clock repair work by Swaziland Railway on its lines, all of which suffered storm-related damage, have reopened all routes in the kingdom, though trains must operate at reduced speed.
The company is compiling the cost of repair work, but has released a figure of R2,5 million in lost freight transport business for the first three weeks of February.
The Maloma rail spur to the Maloma coal mine siding was excessively damaged, reports Timothy Ndlovu, Senior Engineer for Swaziland Railway.
The main north-south route, where freight traffic from Komatipoort descends through Swaziland on its way to Richard's Bay, accounts for 75% of the company's business. Five to six trains a day usually use the line. The absence of so-called transit traffic during the line's 14-day closure accounted for most financial loses.
Import-export traffic to and from the inland cargo depot at the Matsapha Industrial site, comprised of containerised cargo, or urgent cargo, was immediately transferred to sub-contractors' trucks for road transport. This is standard policy, because export goods have to get to Maputo and Durban in time to meet ships, explains Swaziland Railway's CEO Gideon Mahlalela.
Swaziland Railway's Director of Traffic Stevenson Ngubane notes that damage wrought to Zimbabwe and Mozambique by Cyclone Eline is the same as if it occurred here in its effect on railway operations.
Disruptions in train services originating in those countries have a financial domino effect in Swaziland. Last year, Swaziland Railways handled 2,5 million tonnes for minerals, mostly phosphate, copper and vermiculite, from Phalaborwa in South Africa, but storm-related disruptions in Mpumalanga have interrupted this traffic.
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