EFFORTS TO SALVAGE PONTOON FLOP

EFFORTS to retrieve the pontoon which got submerged last week at the Kazungula border in Southern Province are now proving futile.

This follows attempts by two cranes that have so far been engaged to try and retrieve it from the deep waters.

A government crane under ESCO the operators of the pontoons at the border on Thursday and Friday failed to pull the ferry off the water before another crane from DAEWOO Engi- neering and Construction, the company constructing the Kazungula Bridge also failed.

A check by the Daily Nation at Kazungula border at the weekend found the two cranes at the site where the pontoon is half way submerged in the deep waters of the Zambezi River with all its engines in water.

And in an interview with the Daily Nation, ESCO manager at Kazungula border Daniel Mutapo expressed concern with the situation.

Mr. Mutapo said that the longer the engines remain in water the more chances of it being damaged are likely.

“So far we tried to use our crane to retrieve it from the water but it has failed…the pontoon is big it requires a big crane so we had asked the people from Daewoo to help us," he said.

“For now we do not know the extent of the damage because the engines are in water. We are hoping it can be retrieved so that we can continue operating normally," he said.

But by 17: 00 hours on Saturday, even the crane from Daewoo E & C which is slightly bigger than the ESCO crane failed to retrieve the pantoon.

The only option now which ESCO management has is to hire the biggest crane from Daewoo E & C of which the company is reluctant to allow release it due its nature.