The Sunday News
Wilson Dakwa, Business Reporter
THE Road Motor Services (RMS) must be separated from the National Railways of Zimbabwe to improve efficiency as road freight, unlike rail, was still viable due to good roads in the country.
Addressing delegates at a Transport and Infrastructural Development Strategic planning workshop in Bulawayo last week, Transport and Infrastructural Development Dr Joram Gumbo said his ministry officials must speed up the separation of the companies.
RMS is a unit of the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) which deals with road services but like its sister company, it has fallen on hard times and is now characterised by antiquated machinery and depressed operation.
“At this point, I wish to urge the Permanent Secretary to speed up the separation of RMS from NRZ to allow for efficiency and independence in their operations,” said Dr Gumbo.
He also bemoaned the slow progress in the construction of Zimbabwe’s dry port at Walvis Bay in Namibia.
“I am informed that the competition of Phase 1 of the Walvis Bay Dry Port project took a long time due to contractor challenges. My expectation is that Phase 2, which involves the construction of an office building and installation of electricity and water systems will be done efficiently. The project will assist in facilitating trade for Zimbabwe,” he said.
RMS is spearheading the construction of the port in partnership with the Walvis Bay Corridor Group and the Namibian Port Authority. In September 2009, the Namibian government granted Zimbabwe 19 000 square metres of land to construct its own dry port that is expected to boost the country’s trade activities. The initial deal involving Namibia was supposed to link trade through Botswana with South Africa to the south, Namibia to the west, Zambia and Angola to the north-west, and Zimbabwe to the north, making it a prime network for the Southern African Development Community region.
The project which has the potential to open a strategic gateway to the sea for Zimbabwe was supposed to be completed in 2013 but financial constraints temporarily halted work. Zimbabwe is a landlocked developing country which depends on Beira and Durban ports for transit and access to the seas. It is estimated that importers and exporters could save more than 10 days in transit time to markets in Europe and the Americas via the Walvis Bay Dry Port.
Meanwhile, Dr Gumbo said a number of capital projects under his ministry were on course. These include the recapitalisation of NRZ and the dualisation of Beitbridge-Chirundu highway. He also challenged the department of rail transport management and the NRZ to remain focused on set recapitalisation targets. This comes after Dr Gumbo appointed new board members at NRZ and at the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) last month. Mr Larry Mavhima retained his position as chairperson of the NRZ board while his deputy is Retired Brigadier-General William Dube.
@WilsonDakwa1
