Mota-Engil optimistic on timely project completion
Mota-Engil, constructors of the Moatize-Liwonde-Nacala Railway Corridor says it is optimistic that it will complete the project on time and according to plan.
Contract manager Joao Neto said this in an interview on Saturday during a media tour of the project at Mkwinda Campsite in Neno to appreciate progress made so far.
Neto said earthworks for the 42 km stretch (from Mkwinda Camp to Nkaya junction) were almost complete with laying of the track expected to commence next month.
“We are progressing in all other workfronts – earthworks, drainage and bridges – according to the programme of works. Further to earthworks, the rates of production are quite impressive: more than 700 m of culverts, 250 m of piles and 12 bridge beams (25 tonnes each) per week using over 3 000 m of concrete. This leads to material consumption of 40 tonnes of steel and 200 tonnes of cement daily,” said Neto.
He said that to comply with the demanding goals to be achieved in the project, they are working double shifts, so that the target date is met.
The project has a workforce of over 3 400 people, 3 000 of whom are Malawians at different levels.
Mota-Engil was sub-contracted by Vale Logistics to build this section of about 140 km, part of the whole 906 km railway from Moatize Mine in Tete to the Nacala Port in Mozambique, passing through Malawi’s Mwanza, Neno, Balaka and Liwonde.
It begun on March 17 2012 and is expected to end on June 16 2014. It is, according to Mota-Engil’s contractual matters manager Noel Phumisa, one of the biggest projects in southern Africa and the largest in the country.
The Moatize-Liwonde-Nacala Railway Corridor employs people from Portugal, South Africa, Mozambique, Thailand and Zimbabwe, apart from locals.
