Thieves sabotage Sena line – Mozambique

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Thieves sabotage Sena line – Mozambique

7:26 CAT | 30 Jun 2017

File photo

The Mozambican police have arrested four men who sabotaged the Sena railway line, running from the Moatize coal basin in the western province of Tete to the port of Beira, in order to steal cables.

According to the Sofala provincial police spokesperson, Daniel Macuacua, the men were arrested thanks to a tip-off, when local people informed the police of a group who were destroying sleepers along the line.

The sleepers are made of reinforced concrete and the gang of thieves used pickaxes and hammers to smash the concrete and remove the steel cables. They were found in possession of 240 cables, when the vehicle they were using was stopped by the police. They hoped to sell the steel to local building contractors.

The four men confessed to the crime, and said they did not know it was illegal to remove sleepers from the railway.

The destruction of sleepers weakens the Sena line and increases the risk of derailment.

Also in Sofala, the police have arrested a community leader, named J. Adelino, in Muanza district who is accused of illegal logging in a conservation area. A Chinese timber operator and his driver were also arrested, but their names have not been released.

According to Domingos Manuel, head of inspection in the Sofala Provincial Forestry and Wild Life Services, by the time they were seized, the three had already loaded 72 logs of umbila (a hardwood sometime sknown as African teak) onto a truck and were preparing to drive to Beira. Manuel believed they intended to export the wood from Beira (even though there is a total ban on the export of unprocessed logs).

Following the arrests, the Chinese timber operator was fined 780,000 meticais (about 1,340 US dollars). He and his driver were then released, much to Manuel’s annoyance. “I have no information about the circumstances under which the businessman and his motorist were set free”, he told reporters.

However, the Muanza district authorities ordered the re-arrest of the two. They were caught in the neighbouring district of Dondo, and sent back to Muanza where they and Adelino will stand trial.

“Noticias” adds that a few days ago two trucks carrying over 200 logs illegally felled were seized in Chibabava district, and their owners arrested. No further details on this incident are available.