Zambia Must Implement 30% Rail Transportation Policy
President of the Railway Workers Union, Nathan Zulu, wants the Zambian government to implement Statutory Instrument 7 of 2018 and Statutory Instrument 98 of 2020, compelling business entities that manufacture or utilise raw materials or by-products of specified commodities in the schedules to transport by rail in line with the threshold of 30%.
The products include copper/copper cobalt concentrates, sugar, coal, cement, sulphur, and fuels. Equally important, Zulu believes that if the directive is carried out, it will help the railway sector to transport meaningful tonnages and mitigate the unfavourable market share for rail, which is less than 5% at the moment. Moreover, he said two statutory instruments were signed as part of the road-to-rail policy that will reduce the cost of maintenance of roads, which is currently costing the government a colossal amount of money. “The implementation of the statutory instruments would equally save a lot of productive lives from the many road accidents occasioned by congested roads traversed by many trucks and fatigued drivers.”
Zulu said the rail sector has lacked investment in the past years, resulting in dilapidated railway lines with speeds of up to 20 km per hour at the most. “The rolling stock and signalling is obsolete and aged and does not meet the customers’ need for containerised wagons. Perhaps the most important is the lack of political will to revolutionise and modernise the rail subsector,” said Zulu.
Zulu adds that the modernisation of the railway will mitigate the cost of doing business as rail transport is cheap and safe. He believes that a revamped and functional rail subsector that would accrue benefits from improved tonnage would translate into investment in the rehabilitation of the track. Further, he said rehabilitation of the railway is labour intensive and would offer job opportunities on a large scale that will trigger economic activities that will in turn improve the country’s GDP.
“Forty trucks equal one train load hence mitigating road accidents that are cutting short the lives of productive Zambians as a result of congested roads and most importantly saving millions from the treasury in road maintenance. It would also mitigate the carbon footprint and help in mitigating climate change and global warming.” Furthermore, Zulu said recapitalisation of the railway will equally open up Zambia by investing in greenfields like the Livingstone-Kazungula-Sesheke corridor, Livingstone via Kazungula to Mosetse Botswana, Nseluka-Mpulungu, Chipata via Petauke to Serenje on the Nacala Corridor and the Kafue to Lion’s Den in Zimbabwe. A feasibility study that was done and released last year by Sweden Rail impressed on the government that US$1.2 billion was needed to revamp Zambia Railways, he said.
Finally, Zulu said the government must seriously consider partnering with other countries like India and China in a Public Private Partnership to develop the railway industry in Zambia.
By: Chamwe Kaira