The Sunday News
TRANSPORT and Infrastructural Development Minister Joram Gumbo last week said the Government will soon ban transportation of bulky goods by roads to boost National Railways of Zimbabwe business.
This is a noble idea on paper but have we ever looked at whether people and companies who are using road transport are doing it because they are deliberately shunning the rail company.
No, the simple fact is that NRZ has been going down and it is because of its failure to meet the demand and unreliability issues that have seen companies opting for the road. Rail transport is cheap and so why would companies deliberately opt for the road which is expensive.
Let the country revive NRZ and naturally business will flow there. Only if NRZ comes openly and complain that their systems are up to date and they are failing to get business, then such measures can be considered.
Meanwhile, the Industrial index closed the week on Friday a higher note after adding 0.10 points (0.10 percent) to close at 98.93 points. CFI Holdings surged $0,0105 to close at $0,0867, Delta gained $0,0016 to close at $0,6516 while Axia and Masimba both rose by $0,0001 to close at $0,0276 and $0,0076 respectively.
Only one counter traded in the negative territory; Simbisa eased $0,0010 to settle at $0,1300. Despite Friday’s gain, the industrial index lost 0.70 points (0,70 percent) compared to week ending 15 July 2016. The Mining index rose by 1.58 points (6,39 percent) to close at 26.30 points after Bindura moved up $0,0020 to trade at $0,0120. Falgold, Hwange and RioZim remained unchanged on previous price levels at $0,0055, $0,0300 $0,1703 in that order. Week on week the mining index was up by 1.60 points (6,48 percent).
