Transport minister, Tayali, calls for full concession of Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority

Transport and Logistics Minister, Frank Tayali, says the desire of Zambia and Tanzania is for TAZARA as a Company to undergo a full concession.

Tayali said the shareholders were open to look at various models that would make this possible.

The Minister said this during the luncheon hosted by the Chinese Charge ď Affaires to Zambia, Wang Sheng at the Chinese Ambassador’s Residence on Tuesday.

He stated that by so doing the concessionaire would be able to spell out in clear terms the steps they would take in the revitalisation process.

“This will be in areas such as track, maintenance and improvement that will also encompass safety issues to include the signaling system,” Tayali said.

The minister expressed hope that the concessioning of TAZARA would be agreed to by all parties, Tanzania, Zambia and the Chinese counterparts.

Tayali also expressed government’s desire to see to it that as the concession was being discussed, the plight of the workers should also be considered and looked into.

“Further, there will be need to get a good set of workers and managers and train them in this field,” he added.

Earlier, Wang assured the Minister that the revitalisation programme of TAZARA was a consensus reached by the three Heads of States.

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He identified the three Heads of State as the Chinese President Xi Jinping, Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania and President Hakainde Hichilema.

“China attaches great importance to the project as it is a critical investment and show of friendship among the three countries,” Wang said.

He expressed desire to commercialise the project and make it more economically viable for it to be sustainable.

Wang added that such was the common goal that the three countries share.

He agreed with the minister that the plight of all the employees on both sides needed to be taken care of as they were cardinal to the success of the programme.

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