10 April 2008
Maputo — The Mozambican government has promised to intervene rapidly to solve the problem of those leases of railways and port terminals, where the leaseholders are violating their contractual obligations.
Transport Minister Paulo Zucula gave this undertaking on Wednesday when he visited the Maputo headquarters of the publicly-owned rail and port company, CFM.
From the late 1990s, the government embarked on a programme of leasing out the railways and ports. The assets and infrastructure would still be owned by the Mozambican state, but the lines and terminals would be run by privately-headed consortia. The theory was that this would bring in new investment, and CFM would benefit from the rent paid for the leases.
But the chairperson of the CFM board, Rui Fonseca, has complained repeatedly that some of the leaseholders are violating their contracts, by running up huge rent arrears and not providing the promised investment. His main targets were the Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC), and the Northern Development Corridor (CDN), which runs the northern port of Nacala and the Nacala-Malawi railway.
Two American companies, Edlows Resources and the American Railroad Corporation, are the main foreign partners in CDN, while MPDC used to be run by a consortium headed by Mersey Port and Harbour of Britain. However, in recent months the MPDC shareholding structure has completely altered, with the British company selling its shares. Currently the two foreign companies in MPDC are Dubai Port World and Grindrod of South Africa.
But the position the new owners inherited was one in which MPDC had huge unpaid debts to CFM. According to CFM, MPDC owed 16 million US dollars in unpaid rent.
Zucula declared that the government cannot allow leaseholders to trample upon the contracts they have signed. "The government must intervene to unblock various problems concerning the leases", he said. "A speedy answer is also needed to the correspondence sent by CFM concerning the relationship between the government, CFM and our partners".
Zucula gave no time frame for government intervention, but promised that it would happen as soon as possible.
At the ensuing press conference, Fonseca declined to go into any further details about CFM's problems with the leaseholders, on the grounds that he had spoken at length about this in the past. "There are clear signs that the paradigm that exists today is going to change", he said. "But if it doesn't, then I will speak about the matter again".
Fonseca also promised to improve rail transport between Maputo and the surrounding areas with the import from Portugal of three new passenger locomotives, each with three carriages attached. This would help minimize the current shortage of passenger transport between Maputo and the adjoining city of Matola.
Fonseca did not say how much this new equipment would cost or when it is expected in Mozambique. He explained, however, that before they are shipped to Mozambique, these engines must be transformed to adapt to the country's conditions, notably the gauge of the railways.
Fonseca said that CFM had already introduced passenger routes between central Maputo and Matola (to the west) and between Maputo and Marracuene, about 30 kilometres north of the city. These would be the routes that receive the new locomotives and carriages - which should allow more than the current two desperately overcrowded services, one in the morning and one at night.
He said that this is not the complete solution to Maputo's transport problems, but will complement bus services. Fonseca said that CFM is subsidizing about 50 per cent of the cost of rail passenger transport.
"We are talking about public transport, and so we're not counting on the "chapas" (privately-owned mini-buses). These are auxiliary and their concern is to make a profit, while we are interested in providing a service for citizens", said Fonseca.
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