WINDHOEK – A gargantuan salary, wages and employee benefits bill – totalling N$296 million – compounded TransNamib’s poor financial performance during the 2012/13 financial year when the parastatal recorded losses of N$183 million.
That figure is more than double the loss of N$67 million reported in the previous financial year. TransNamib’s employee remuneration costs for the year were a staggering N$295.36 million, or 56.6 percent of the company’s N$522.150 million operating costs for the year.
Total revenue for the year decreased to N$527 million, from N$565 million of the previous year, while employee remuneration costs increased by nearly 6 percent from N$279.01 million paid out in the previous financial year.
A dig through TransNamib’s financial books reveals a company heavily indebted, with an array of loan, contingent, overdraft and guarantee facilities with various banks and institutions.
It also reveals fundamental challenges facing the national rail and road transport state-owned operator: TransNamib has serious capacity problems and is no longer able to absorb the rail and road freight volumes needed to remain afloat, hence the dip in revenue.
“The year under review was particularly challenging for TransNamib,” former board chairperson Festus Lameck says in the 2012/13 annual report. Lameck’s tenure on the board has since ended and Dr Peter Oosthuizen is the current board chair.
“Steady progress was made against a challenging operating environment, characterised by overall increasing input costs. The capacity challenges led to volume decreases causing the company to realise a loss of N$183 million. Approximately N$86 million was expended on the acquisition of rolling stock, N$4 million on non-revenue vehicles and N$6 million on cargo handling vehicles,” reads the annual report covering the period of April 2012 to March 2013.
TransNamib is nevertheless optimistic about the upcoming trading years, but beseeches government to infuse the company with the financial means required to replace and have adequate assets such as locomotives, wagons, cargo handling equipment and truck tractors to improve capacity.
The report says a strategic decision needs to be taken regarding the type of rail system Namibia should put in place to promote the country as a logistics nation and make rail transport competitive with road transport, and to reduce the pressure on the costs of maintaining roads.
“While substantial government commitments are visible in port and road infrastructure investments over the past few years, it has not yet been mirrored in terms of Namibia’s railway infrastructure. This situation requires urgent attention, not only by government who wants to achieve its NDP4 plans, but also by all stakeholders in Namibia’s transport and logistics industry,” reads the annual report.
Currently, only 46 percent of the country’s railway network complies with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) recommendations concerning axle load.
“Only about 1 200 kilometres of the total rail network of 2 687 kilometres can carry the standard 18.5 tonne axle load, while the remaining lines are limited to 16.5 tonnes or even only 13.5 tonnes,” the report said.