Zambia Railways warns

THE construction of the new market barely three meters from the main rail line in Kamwala is a risk to the lives of traders who will be operating from there, Zambia Railways Limited Board chairman, Lubinda Linyama has said.

Mr. Linyama said any structure built on the rail reserve which is 50 meters from the main rail line will be demolished.

Speaking during a tour of the railway line in Lusaka to ascertain the level of encroachment, he said there will be no consideration for those that built structures on the main railway line.

“We will demolish all structures on the rail safety zone along the railway line because the lives of people that set up structures in these areas are at risk,” he said.

Mr. Linyama also said there is an underutilization of properties and that people are taking advantage of ZRL by setting up permanent structures in areas leased to them. “There has been under payment of rentals for the commercial properties being owned by the company, people are not paying enough money for renting our property hence the need for the estate department to come up with commercially viable rates. “We therefore implore the management to commercialize the rentals because some of the rentals being paid are ridiculous and we expect this to be done within the first quarter,” said Mr Linyama.

He lamented that it is unfortunate that most of the organizations that have been allowed to operate on rail line reserved land have opted to erect permanent structures.