CONSTRUCTION of the US $1 billion North-West railway line is earmarked to commence this year with the investor, NorthWest Rail (NWR) targeting the stretch between Kalumbila and Solwezi for the initial part of the project.
NWR chairperson Enock Kavindale said in an interview in Kitwe recently that all was set for commencement of construction of the North-West railway line.
Mr Kavindale said $1 billion North-West railway line project, which
was a joint venture between NRW and Grindrod, was set to commence this
year under phase.
He said phase one of the project would involve construction of the railway line between Kalumbila and Solwezi.
“The idea of starting from Kalumbila is that we have Kalumbila Mine there and there is the issue of having to transport copper concentrates from there to Solwezi where First Quantum Minerals (FQM) have a smelter,” he said.
Mr Kavindale said the development of the kalumbila mine and the construction of a smelter in Solwezi had raised transport business prospects in the region.
“At the moment, we are discussing with land owners settled on a stretch earmarked for construction of the railway line for possible compensation and once we are done with that, we should be getting to the ground to start the project,” Mr Kavindale said.
He said the need to construct a railway line in North-Western province could not be over emphasized considering that the region had now assumed the status of the largest copper producer.
Mr Kavindale said with the many exploration projects currently being conducted, which ultimately would result into increased mining activities, North-Western was destined for greater economic boom which would demand for improved transport network.
He said phase two of the project would involve the construction of a railway line from Solwezi to Chingola.
“At the moment, all the copper and concentrate is taken Copperbelt through road and with the railway line in place, that will take away the much traffic from road to railway,” he said.
Good, but who is this Grindrod. I hope it is not another John cecil Rhodes the barbarian savage!!!
I am sure the PF will be overall over Kavindele again, he will be dragged to ACC etc just like many other progressive people.
Kavindele, the richest Zambian.
Tunasekeleluku a Kavindele! May God bless this businessman and protect his business from PF vultures.This is what Zambians want – a businessman doing something for the benefit of Zambians without political Sh..t
North Western province was marginalised by UNIP and MMD and now PF but God has answered my Mbuyas prayers and blessed them abundantly. Keep voting UPND Mbuyas! All change in 2016 and usher in another rich Zambian in the name of HH and let this show begin. We are ready to rule and put Zambia back on the world map. Please side line PF and let’s go it alone to give you prosperity!
A vulture is a patient bird , so this vulture was finally given the contract.
Grinrod is a south African based company speciallised in cargo transportation with train cargo they ve business with rbct in south Africa in which they transport coal from the mines to the port,they ve business with African minerals in sierra leone transporting the iron ore from the mines to the port.
That’s good role for private investors,the pf govt should promote private partnership ventures especially in the energy sector,texture manufacturing,road next works were the private companies can construct toll ports on routes like kafue – Lusaka,chongwe -Lusaka,kabwe -Lusaka and mumbwa – Lusaka.the money generated should be used for the improvements of the said road networks .
This is the kind of thinking we need from matured politicians like Kavindele, he is focused not self centred and has the vision for his province.
Northwestern province has been neglected for too long now and has nothing to show as a province. Just look at the road from chingola to solwezi itself, it is a worst road linking a province in Zambia so far and a death trap. A stretch of 160 kilos now takes you 3 to 4 hrs to drive.
We support you Mr Kavindele and we anxiously wait to see this project commence ASAP.
Politicians like kabimba, shamenda, mukanga etc are just time wasters.
Good initiative, but isn’t Mr Kavindele underestimate how long it will take to finalise compensation discussions and relocation of people living on the land where part of the railway will be? These issues can be quite disruptive and can derail the whole project. We are almost half way through 2014. I this issue has not yet been addressed we might be having these same discussions next year. I may be wrong but I think it has been many years that Mr Kavindele has been involved in trying to set-up a railway line in NW. It will be great to see the plan finally come to pass.
I support you EK in your endeavour. I hope you can now turn this project into a reality as it has been on paper for years. Turn the actions into words.
Very good initiative, that would save roads. Hey, I wish someone worked on the iron and steel plant in North Western province. Some of the rails could have been made. Steel plant in NW, please. Apart from supplying steel for rails to the new rail line, such Iron & Steel plant can serve the whole country with yet construction steel supply for the construction industry and reduce importation. Meanwhile, lets applaud the coming to fruition on NW Railway line, finally.
Yes iron and steel project is greatly required pa zed. It could create jobs and make a number of things cheap.
Eish,when was the feasibility study done and costs factored? Its a welcome development but it sounds too good to be true and too rushed.
Don’t look at the glass as half empty.
Look at it as half full.
Let’s us not be pessimistic Enka.
How was it approved? I thought the approval must ve taken into consideration resettlement and relocation plan. Moreover, been a linear project. people to be relocated don’t need to settle far off. just leaving a buffer zone of 500m would do. plse lets not have another 30 years project off take like the Chipata – Munjiji rail line.
I do not understand the economics of railway transportation in Zambia: The old Zambia Railways has been allowed to go to waste in preference for South African road transportaters; Uhuru Railways aka TAZARA has also been allowed to collapse in preference for Tanzanian road transporters. What cuts with North West Railways?
Good point!
Whilst this is good news, I cannot understand how Mr. Kavindele’s company and Grindrod Ltd can be entrusted to spend $1 billion to build a railway having not done that before? Grodrod is a south African freight and shipping company with no history of railway construction. There is also no mention of consultants that have or would design this important infrastructure
@ Amayama yaba! Ubututu. How was Steve Jobs entrusted to invent the IPOD,IPAD etc when he had never done it before, How did the Americans send Neil Armstrong to the moon when he had never been there before? Closer to home how did you vote for Sata as president of Zambia when he had never done it before? come on man you ought to know that nothing happens unless it’s first a dream
Mbiji – In case you missed my point, there’s nothing inventive about railway line building. And therefore I thought if Mr. Kavindele’s company won the contract, he should have partnered with another company that is already in the railway construction industry. Grindrod in this case is not the right company to help Kavindele’s company. For your info, I work in the industry and probably far from ubututu
#Amayama, it NOT like ” Mr. Kavindele’s company won the contract”, but Kavindele will be the owner of the Railway line. and may be Grindrod is financial partner. Then they will engage a Chinese to do the construction. Iam sure Grindrod will handle the administration and logistic part of the business.
Good in principle but, as the saying goes, the devil is in the detail.
Grindon hafreight ong track record in South Africa with managing freight in South Africa and is one of the top companies here I’m not sure of there expertise in rail but I feel safer with them than a Chinese company cause at least we know well get a much better product plus whatever money is invested stays on in southern Africa not some fat cat in China
Good name “North west” but not good enough for a politician like Kavindele who is looking forward to being a president of Zambia and I personally appreciate him. Be Zambian, small things like this can cost you a lot. Just be natural and leave some of this things to others
I also have a problem if this project can start before the end of this year because of the issue of resettlement. These issues are so political and take time to resolve. It sounds a very good idea and promising but I hav misgivings on the resetlement issue.
Some other stakeholders may very soon jump on the process to protect the would be victims from the said project. I wish you the best sir.
You could be right the issue of Kabitka and Kalumbila and FQM is still being resolved.
Determination
Grindrod is a well known international company also based in South Africa. There are into diverse businesses one of them logistics and warehouse
We have to be grateful to the current Government for giving Kavindele a go-ahead for the project to FINALY take off. The past two Presidents (Mwanawasa & Rupiah) never entertained this idea , for obvious Political reasons. Its good that Sata has embraced this idea and approved its commencement .
I love this.I wonder what is in it for Kavindele.These business men are rarely mentioned in projects without them being one of the biggest beneficiaries.
Thanks Vakulwane,
This project started in Mwanawasa days and it dead naturally.I hope this PF government will give a go ahead.
Country men and women,now that the Zambian railways is functional can we do away with these truckers who are destroying our roads as they give us nothing to compensate our roads.
Viva Kavindele may the project starts as the Angolan government has already done their part soon they will reach Zambian Boarder.
MMD refused to give him this contract during the Mwanawasa and Banda regime.
So thumbs up to the PF Govenment
From the engineering point of view, that railway is too short to recoup back used 1 billion in reasonable time unless the idea is to consider usd1bilion as a sunk cost. Why? Because rail tariffs are in ton-km. for such a short railway you would need to run a 2 km long train to get meaning revenues to break even.
@21. Musaknkwa. Banene, you may have a point there. But then again in this instance its a case of transporting concentrates from point A to point B. So, its a question of comparing Rail line VERSUS Conveyor belt covering a distance of about 100 km. Which one is more practical in terms of maintenance and more cost effective in terms of running costs? Which one lends itself to other uses during idle time, hence generates more revenue streams, other than just transporting concentrates? Which one will enable the Country to kill two birds with one stone, especially once the Chingola – Solwezi Rail line is also built in future? etc.. The Rail line obviously wins hands down, not so?
How competent is Kavindele to manage such a huge and complex project. US1billion?? what’s the Return on Investment? Kaya
I have been hearing about this project since I was a kid and that was more than 15 years ago!
@21. Musaknkwa. Banene, you may have a point there. But then again in this instance its a case of transporting concentrates from point A to point B. So, its a question of comparing Rail line VERSUS Conveyor belt covering a distance of about 100 km. Which one is more practical in terms of maintenance and more cost effective in terms of running costs? Which one lends itself to other uses during idle time, hence generates more revenue streams, other than just transporting concentrates? Which one will enable the Country to kill two birds with one stone, especially once the Chingola – Solwezi Rail line is also built in future? etc.. The Rail line obviously wins hands down, not so?.
EK, be careful of vultures who took your dream projects from you. Don’t allow such vultures to be anywhere near you, especially that Money Launderer Indian. All the best.
Kindly provide contact details for Mr E Kavindele. Preferably e mail add. Would like to contribute to the Railway project. Thank you.