Beira: Stolen railway line material found in Chinese foundry

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Beira: Stolen railway line material found in Chinese foundry

3:39 CAT | 03 Jun 2020

Photo: O País

In the last two years, large amounts of material have been stolen from the Sena railway line between Beira and Moatize, and the Machipanda line, which links the Port of Beira to neighbouring Zimbabwe. It is believed that the stolen material is being sold to the foundry companies that have sprung up between Beira and Dondo during the same period.

In fact, vehicles have already been seized and individuals detained on suspicion of selling the stolen products to foundry companies.

Moatize coal has also been found on the same premises, with owners allegedly having difficulty accounting for it, but the defendants in such cases often end up being released for lack of evidence.

This Tuesday, another tip-off took the police to a Chinese foundry in the Beira’s Ceramica neighbourhood.

The police had great difficulty gaining access to the foundry, and only succeeded after half an hour of insistence. An amount of railway material was found inside, including 40- to 45-kilogram rails, and fastening materials for rails such as shoulders and anchors.

Boaventura Mahave, director of the Mozambique Railway Centre, says that the material found in the Chinese company is looted from the Sena and Machipanda lines.

“We have accumulated huge losses over the past two years, and report robberies practically every day. What worries us is that some of the perpetrators of the thefts have already been caught – the same people using the same vehicles. These robberies will result in tragedy one day – passengers and goods trains circulate on these lines. A moment’s inattention on our part and we’ll have a catastrophe on our hands,” Mahave exclaimed.

The lawyer for the foundry company claimed that it was too early to conclude that the rods manufactured there were produced from stolen material, but admitted that the company may have been deceived as to the origins of the material, and unwittingly purchased some stolen good.

Police said they would continue to investigate the case, especially since the company had been purchasing raw material to manufacture rods at night.

By Francisco Raiva

Source: O País