MONROVIA – ArcelorMittal is undertaking the task of refurbishing the 250-kilimoter railway between Buchanan and Yekepa, but this effort is being greatly undermined constantly by illegal scrap dealers who continue to remove metal plates and pins that secure the rails to the old wooden sleepers that are now obsolete and being replaced.
By Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]
The refurbishment, according to the ore mining company, is part of its Phase 2 of its operations in Liberia that would expand the company’s operations in the country. According to ArcelorMittal, Phase 2 of its project in Liberia would see Liberia receiving the biggest investment in the mining sector in West Africa.
The ongoing work on the railway involves replacing old wooden ties with new steel sleepers, and it has already begun in Grand Bassa County, with approximately 40 kilometers of railway upgraded to date.
According to the company, the removal of the metal plates and pins endangers lives by causing instability in the rails.
FrontPageAfrica gathered that, this rash of thefts has resulted in two serious derailments of AML trains in the past three months, with the latest incident occurring in Nimba County at the beginning of October. In this most recent derailment, more than 20 ore wagons were destroyed, leading to a temporary closure of the railway. No injuries were reported in the incident.
The company laments that every day the railway remains closed signifies a day when ore cannot be transported from the mine, causing both AML and Liberia to incur substantial financial losses. According to the AML, a single week of lost exports translates into millions of dollars in lost revenue and royalties for the company and the country.
The situation is further exacerbated by the growing risk of harm to individuals involved in illegal scrap metal operations. As these individuals strip the railway of essential materials, the risk of accidents and casualties looms large, threatening lives and livelihoods in Liberia.
According to ArcelorMittal, it is actively collaborating with the Ministry of Justice and County Superintendents in Bassa, Bong, and Nimba to address this pressing issue as policing such an extensive railway network is challenging, thereby, necessitating the need to employ the involvement of communities along the railway who organize watch teams for the protection of the tracks.
Speaking to FrontPageAfrica on the matter, the Minister of Justice, Cllr. Frank Musa Dean, said the Ministry has been holding conversations with the ArcelorMittal on the best possible way to provide security for the rail and other facilities. He also disclosed that the government is currently providing security for ArcelorMittal at its Buchanan facility and mining site in Yekepa.
Railways in Liberia comprised two lines from the port of Monrovia in the northeast, and one line to the port of Buchanan in the centre. The lines were built principally to transport iron ore. By 2010, only the Bong mine railway was operational but the Lamco Railway was rebuilt by ArcelorMittal and put back into service in 2011 as far as Tokadeh, Nimba County, allowing export of iron ore from the company’s mine on the Guinean border via the Port of Buchanan.
In August, AML reported a derailment on the rail involving one of its locomotives en route from the mines in Yekepa to the port in Buchanan.
The company disclosed that the derailment was due to the theft of railway fasteners by unknown individuals. There was no injuries or fatalities recorded.
ArcelorMittal Liberia’s railway operations have suffered many similar attacks and sabotage by criminals who remove rail sleepers and fasteners thereby posing huge risks of accidents.
