The minister of transport, honourable Sidik Mia has remarked that the 72 kilometres railway line which is being rehabilitated from Limbe to Nsanje will reduce cost by 3 dollars which is about K2,250 per turn.
Mia made the remark when he was on a tour to appreciate the progress of the work where he said government have plans of making sure that the line connects to Beira in order to reduce transportation costs of imports for Malawi.
"The ministry of transport is entrusted in making sure that the transport cost be reduced and mach that of the SADC region which is about 7 dollars per turn. Currently, we are about 10 dollars a turn so we want to make sure that is achieved so that our partners, exporters and traders get maximum profits without being hindered by transport cost and of course imports should also be cheaper for the benefit of all Malawians."
The dorsility of the line has made business activities difficult over the time as people from lower shire could do business easily before proceeding to Limbe market.
Commenting on the progress of the railway, Central East African Railway (CEAR) project manager of the line Chrispine Kapalamula said the work which is in phases will see them to next year before completion.
Kapalamura said, : "We've done about sixteen kilometres in the first phase out of the 23 kilometers and for the second phase, we've done about six kilometres of the 21. For the earth works we've done about fourteen kilometres of the 21 which represents a good percentage of all."
The 23 kilometres which is from Limbe to Nansadi station is expected to be completed by December this year and from Nansadi to Luchenza by next year.
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