Tazara: Businesses operating 100 m from railway to be cleared

The management of Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) will next month conduct a nationwide assessment to establish the number of people who have invaded the rail before taking stern measures including eviction.

Speaking to this paper in an interview last week in Dar es Salaam, the authority’s regional general manager (Tanzania), Eng Abdallah Shekimweri, said the exercise would start in Dar es Salam Region to be followed by other areas where the rail passes.

The 980km long Tazara rail from Dar es Salaam to Tunduma passes through four regions namely, Coast, Morogoro, Iringa and Mbeya.

Shekimweri said the act which established Tazara states that people are allowed to conduct their activities 50 metres away on both sides from the railway line. Some of the notable rail areas which have been invaded by people are Mtoni, Tandika and Yombo (Dar es Salaam), Mlimba (Morogoro), Makambako (Njombe) and Tunduma (Mbeya).

“We will do an assessment to establish how many people have invaded the area and take stern measures including prosecution or forced eviction,” he said.
However, he did not state as to when the exercise would be completed or the total costs to be incurred in carrying out the exercise, but noted that human activities have contributed to environmental destruction along the railway line.

He asked people living along railway lines to refrain from vandalising infrastructure or pollute the environment which costs the government millions of shillings to build and maintain.

He urged the public to shun away from polluting Tazara railway because doing so would be unhealthy and dangerous to their lives.

The Tazara regional boss also said that more efforts are needed to reduce acts of vandalism along railway infrastructures.

Shekimweri said the authority has been educating people that vandalism results into accidents and deaths.

'The law forbids building or doing any business activity near railway lines. Among other things, it is dangerous to them when accidents occur and also it is one of the factors leading to the theft of Tazara properties,' he said.

Experts say steel rolling mills sub-sector almost wholly depends on scrap metals as the main source of raw materials. But according to experts, this is not likely to sustain the industry in the long run.

Most of the scrap metals are obtained from abandoned machinery, vehicles, demolished buildings, shipyards, soda cans and dumpsite items.

Unfortunately, the search for scrap metals has at times led to vandalism of vital infrastructure like power lines, water pipes, railway rolling stock as well as buildings.

Surveys show that scrap metal trade in the country has grown tremendously in the last ten years. A kg of iron metal is sold at 250/- while copper metal prices range between 4,500/- and 5,500/- per kg. 

SOURCE: IPPMEDIA

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