Mozambique

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Apr 4, 2016
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Location
Mozambique
Bike
BMW R1200GS Adventure
FYI

The Brazilian mining company Vale has stopped using the Sena railway line to transport coal from its mine at Moatize in the western Mozambican province of Tete to the port of Beira, following two attacks on its trains last week by gunmen of the rebel movement Renamo.
According to a report in Tuesday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Mediafax”, Vale-Mozambique took the decision immediately after the second attack, on Wednesday. In both attacks, the gunmen fired at the cabin of the lead locomotive. No-one was killed in the attacks, but on each occasion a member of the train crew was injured and required hospital treatment.
Val has an alternative route to the sea for its coal exports: it can use the new railway from Moatize to the northern port of Nacala-a-Velha, which runs through southern Malawi.
Landlocked Malawi is considering abandoning the use of the road to Beira, following Renamo’s destruction of four Malawian trucks last week in ambushes in Barue district, Manica province.
On Saturday, the Mozambican police announced that vehicles will travel along the most dangerous part of the road, from the small town of Vanduzi to the Luenha river, which marks the boundary between Manica and Tete provinces, in convoys under armed escort. But this move may come too late to persuade the Malawians to continue using the road.
A spokesperson for the Malawian Foreign Ministry, Rejoice Shumba, cited by the Malawian paper, the “Nyasa Times”, said the situation was worrying and the Malawian government wanted to find out from Mozambique as to what is happening in terms of the security of Malawian citizens and their property.
“Our colleagues in Mozambique earlier told us that everything would be alright, that they would protect Malawians and their property but it looks like the trend is now increasing,” she said.
Most of the Malawian trucks destroyed were carrying fuel. The lost fuel was valued at 69 million kwachas (about 97,000 US dollars). The four trucks themselves were valued at 23 million kwachas.
Three of the Malawian trucks were destroyed in a Friday ambush. Two of the drivers made their way back to Malawi, but the third is still missing. His company, Zagaf Trucks, says it is in contact with the Malawian embassy in Maputo about the fate of the driver.
If Malawian businesses stop using the road to Beira, they can either use the railway from Malawi to the northern Mozambican port of Nacala, or take the much longer road route to Beira through Zambia and Zimbabwe. So far the Zimbabwe-Beira road has not come under Renamo attack.
Source: AIM
 
Top