The reputable firm Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM) has faced a serious scourge over the past five months in the central region of the country, which has cost it more than 20 million meticais. This financial damage is due to the plundering and destruction of its equipment, which led the company to make the situation public.
Luís Gamboa, CFM's safety and health officer in the central region, asserted that the plundering and vandalisation of railway material mainly affected rails, steel sleepers, ballast and coupling pumps. His words were confirmed when stolen railway material was discovered at a company, no longer licensed to operate, belonging to a Chinese national, in Sofala province. This incident revealed how often the company's equipment has been stolen.
The company referred to by Gamboa had already had its operating licence withdrawn previously, owing to records of similar cases. In view of this, the justice system was called upon to help combat these crimes.
Another surprising event occurred at a steel-producing company, where plundered railway equipment was discovered on a route between the city of Beira and Zimbabwe.
In the previous year, 2021, CFM recorded losses of around 60 million meticais in the central region because of the theft and vandalisation of railway material. An alarming situation that reiterates the urgency of more effective security measures to preserve the railway infrastructure.
