Nasasira orders repair of rail line

May 14, 2008

WORKS and transport minister John Nasasira has ordered the repair of the railway line in Jinja that was washed away by rain early this week.

By George Bita

WORKS and transport minister John Nasasira has ordered the repair of the railway line in Jinja that was washed away by rain early this week.

The minister, who was on Tuesday inspecting the damage, said he wants the line restored within three weeks. But Gerrie Scheepers, the Rift Valley Railways head of investment, explained that the work was complex and it would take about four weeks.

Water washed away the section after a culvert underneath it was blocked. Rail transport on the Mombasa-Jinja-Kampala route has been disrupted.

Scheepers said the 15-metre embankment, 3km from Jinja railway station, began collapsing last Tuesday after a downpour, causing the loose soil to block water flow through the culvert. The fast-flowing stream empties into a marshy swamp near Lake Victoria.

He stated that they were in talks with the Kenyan marine services to allow Ugandan-bound goods move through the Kisumu-Port Bell waterway as the repairs progress.

Nasasira also demanded that since most of the culverts were constructed over 50 years ago, Rift Valley Railways should replace them to avert a similar scenario.

He allayed fears that the blockade would substantially affect the country’s economy because “rail transport brings in only 20% of our annual imports.”

Meanwhile, the Rift Valley Railways chief concession manager based in Nairobi, Rodney Boy, yesterday said in a statement they had re-routed all transit cargo from Mombasa enroute to Uganda through Kisumu.

“This is to ensure that the whole line is sound and the heavy machinery required for the repairs is moved to Jinja as quickly as possible.”

Goods from Dar-es-Salaam, he added, would be moved to Uganda through Mwanza and ultimately to Kampala through Port Bell.

Additional reporting by Reuben Olita in Nairobi

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