Written By:Judith Akolo , Posted: Sun, Aug 08, 2010
Police have impounded a truck loaded with 40 tons of rail-road slippers and bars belonging to Kenya Railway Corporation.
The Special Crime Prevention Unit intercepted the lorry as it made its way from Kibwezi where a whole railway line had been dismantled to obtain the slippers and bars.
The trailer was on its way to offload the illegal cargo at one of the steel smelters based in Athi River.
The Kenya Railways Police unit Commandant, James Kirimi Ringera says there has been an upsurge in incidents of theft of steel bars and slippers belonging to Kenya Railways Corporation.
He said the rampant thefts are undermining operations at the Corporation. Kirimi said the Corporation is loosing in excess of 2 million shillings a week in dismantled rail-roads .
Scrape metal dealers and smelters are not turning to railway lines for their raw material. Kirimi said that sections of railways that are not in use are under threat of being dismantled by unscrupulous scrape metal dealers who in turn supply the metal to smelters in Nairobi, Mombasa and Eldoret.
The police boss is now warning those buying railway equipment that they risk losing their licenses for trading in illegal steel obtained from dismantled railway lines.
The driver of the lorry is still at large.
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