Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Gabon actu
Published on 2024-02-19 23:03:16
The Prime Minister of the Transition, Raymond Ndong Sima, has urged the companies Mika Services and SOCOBA to expedite the renovation work on the Transgabonais railway in order to limit the recurring incidents on this essential route for the exploitation of raw materials, including manganese and wood.
Ndong Sima made this recommendation during a working session he chaired this Monday with the management staff of SETRAG (Gabonese Railways Company) and the companies involved in these works.
From these discussions, it emerges that 285 km out of the 758 separating the Owendo station from the Franceville station (in Haut-Ogooué) have been rehabilitated with the installation of 60 kg rails, as opposed to the existing 50 kg rails which are less resistant to the various train tonnages. The project, funded by the French Development Agency (AFD), has reached the end of its planned work. However, those funded by a VAT collection, which is collected monthly, have not been completed for works that began in 2019 and were scheduled for completion in 2022.
The executives of the companies awarded these works, MIKA SERVICES and SOCOBA, cite “financial and technical constraints” as the cause of the observed delays. The work to be carried out related to unstable areas, which account for 70 to 80% of the incidents often recorded.
Available funding
“We recommended the creation of a parallel track. Mika Services for 18.3 km and SOCOBA for 13.5 km. These unstable areas extend from Ntoum to the entrance of Abanga,” said Christian Magni, the CEO of the Gabonese Railways Company (SETRAG), who also mentions technical difficulties related to heavy rainfall and appropriate equipment.
In view of the urgency of this issue, the executives of the companies assigned to this railway construction site in the “Transgabonais” have been notified of the availability of funds for carrying out the works.
The Prime Minister reiterated his commitment, as did the President of the Transition, Brigadier General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, to see these projects completed within reasonable deadlines and thus allow people and goods to travel on this section of the railway in peace.
The Deputy General Manager of Mika Services, Patrice Revangue Zavrosa, expects the completion of this project on this important axis, which crosses four provinces of Gabon, by May 2024, the statement said.
Antoine Relaxe & Primature
Read the original article(French) on Gabon Actu
