On Tuesday (03), a group of workers from Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique - Centro (CFM) removed a section of the Beira - Machipanda railway line, preventing it from connecting to Zimbabwe.

The route is crucial for imports and exports from inland African countries, which depend on the Mozambican port of Beira.

According to a VOAThe three-meter-long section was removed at the Gondola railway station in Manica province, where the group was rioting early on Tuesday morning to complain about the precarious working conditions on the Machipanda line, which was inaugurated a year ago.

As well as better working conditions, they are demanding contracts as company employees, claiming promises made by the company when it started work on upgrading the line.

"Without any explanation, they gave us a new two-month contract to sign, and our future is in jeopardy," said Mateus Zacarias, one of the workers.

Another said, anonymously, that the company exploited the workers, who only knew when they came in and never when they left, without paying overtime.

The 300-kilometer Machipanda line was reintroduced in 2023, 26 years later. It has increased passenger and freight transport capacity and is of capital importance to Zimbabwe.

(Photo DR)