Minister Challenged On Rail Fleet

I KNOW that you are a very busy person but please give me only five minutes of your time by reading this short letter.

It is a pity that you are being misinformed about the condition of the “Chinese” locomotives. You are not being told the truth.I’m not the one who provided a local newspaper with the information on the four locomotives, but would like to suggest they stand by their story because it is true that all four locomotives are not operational because of major defects.After the story appeared in the newspaper, one of the locomotives was out of the workshop and failed en-route.Minister, those are not the only locomotives out of operation – fifteen other “old” locomotives are out of order out of a fleet of fifty-three locomotives, giving you around 20-25% of the fleet that is not operational.Minister, nobody is against the fact that the locomotives were purchased from China, the only concern is that these locomotives started to give problems from day one.Take also into consideration that these locomotives were acquired with the nation’s money and the taxpayers expect service but all they get are en-route failures.Please visit TransNamib and acquaint yourself with what is happening there, especially with the locomotives.The fleet that is there is older than me, over 36 years, and I was told that for all those years the fleet served TransNamib very well with normal maintenance.Now, my question, Minister, is, why can’t we first maintain the existing fleet before we start to buy new locomotives? The country can’t afford to discard the “old” locomotives because they are coming from the colonial era; whatever is to be bought should be phased in in stages.Minister, get a real independent engineer, one who has an understanding of locomotives and other mechanical aspects, to inspect TransNamib’s locomotives and to advise you on their state, including those that were bought from China.The engineers that are currently employed by TransNamib will not tell you the truth because they are the same people who told you the lies that only one locomotive was out of order and not four, and they have not even told you about the fifteen other locomotives.Just imagine what the effect is on the company’s customers with so many locomotives out of order.Thank you very much for your time.A Compatriot Via e-mailYou are not being told the truth.I’m not the one who provided a local newspaper with the information on the four locomotives, but would like to suggest they stand by their story because it is true that all four locomotives are not operational because of major defects.After the story appeared in the newspaper, one of the locomotives was out of the workshop and failed en-route.Minister, those are not the only locomotives out of operation – fifteen other “old” locomotives are out of order out of a fleet of fifty-three locomotives, giving you around 20-25% of the fleet that is not operational.Minister, nobody is against the fact that the locomotives were purchased from China, the only concern is that these locomotives started to give problems from day one.Take also into consideration that these locomotives were acquired with the nation’s money and the taxpayers expect service but all they get are en-route failures.Please visit TransNamib and acquaint yourself with what is happening there, especially with the locomotives.The fleet that is there is older than me, over 36 years, and I was told that for all those years the fleet served TransNamib very well with normal maintenance.Now, my question, Minister, is, why can’t we first maintain the existing fleet before we start to buy new locomotives? The country can’t afford to discard the “old” locomotives because they are coming from the colonial era; whatever is to be bought should be phased in in stages.Minister, get a real independent engineer, one who has an understanding of locomotives and other mechanical aspects, to inspect TransNamib’s locomotives and to advise you on their state, including those that were bought from China.The engineers that are currently employed by TransNamib will not tell you the truth because they are the same people who told you the lies that only one locomotive was out of order and not four, and they have not even told you about the fifteen other locomotives.Just imagine what the effect is on the company’s customers with so many locomotives out of order.Thank you very much for your time.A Compatriot Via e-mail