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HomeLocal NewsZAMBIA RAILWAYS WARNS AGAINST RAIL TRACK VANDALISM

ZAMBIA RAILWAYS WARNS AGAINST RAIL TRACK VANDALISM

LINDA SOKO TEMBO writes 

ZAMBIA Railways Limited (ZRL) has warned people living along the line of rail to stop vandalizing equipment because not only were they damaging the company property but also Zambia’s economy and posing a danger to themselves.

ZRL public relations manager, Caristo Chitamfya said it was unfortunate that one out of 25 wagons that was carrying sugar from Mazabuka to Ndola derailed in the early morning of April 27 in Lusaka’s John Howard Ward Three area. 

In an interview with the Sun, Mr Chitamfya said that the area where the wagon derailed was quite notorious in terms of encroachments and thefts of track ballasts: “lack of ballasts leads to vibrations on the rail that brings about possible causes of a derailment.”

Mr Chitamfya said that the recovery team was onsite to ensure that the sugar was safe and loaded to another wagon and that the cause of the derailment would only be established once the team of investigators had completed their work. 

“The train has been one of the most essential means of transport during this COVID-19 period. People should stop vandalising the equipment because they are not only damaging to the company but to the economy and themselves, 

“The service that ZRL offers everybody depends on it. If people are found vandalising the railway line, the law will catch up with them,” he said.  

Meanwhile John Howard Ward Three Councilor Kafula Mutale said that it was very unfortunate that a wagon one wagon derailed and that as a ward they feared for the lives of those who had built houses near the railway line. 

Mr Mutale said if the wagon was carrying explosives or inflammable crude oil it would have been a disaster for the residents who lived along the line of rail. 

Mr Mutale appealed to the residents who had houses along the line of rail to maintain construction of houses 50 meters away from the railway line to avoid endangering their lives in an event a train derailed.  

“There is an act that guides Zambia Railways Limited on how many metres away houses can be constructed alone the line of rail. 

“People must consult and not just buy houses anyhow, it would have been a different story if the house was carrying inflammable,” he said. 

Mr Kafula urged residents who lived along the line of rail less than 50 meters from the rail line to find alternative settlement land so that they could relocated from where they were currently dwelling to a secure and safe area.

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