Dire conditions on Zimbabwe's railways - 20 Apr 2008

Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa reports from Harare on the dire conditions on Zimbabwe's railways. People endure 14 hours of 'travel hell' in cramped, unhygienic, unsafe and uncomfortable conditions - because it is cheap and therefore affordable.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• haru
• mutasa
• al
• jazeera
• english
• zimbabwe
• railways
• rail
• system

[prepschoolkid]

Rhodesia faced sanctions and it was prosperous...

[prepschoolkid]

well the sanctions should not prevent people from growing food. Mugabe didnt even care about the whites until they started supporting an opposition party. This proves that he is just power hungry and could care less about his people. He is the one that preaches reconciliation, but i guess that was a lie. You are only supporting him because he is black, if he was white I dont think you would speak very highly of him.

[stefansmith]

This seems awful of course, but it's wrong to put it down to Mugabe or sanctions - I've travelled on Egyptian 3rd class trains, and they are NO better (in fact they're worse - there's no lighting or toilets whatsoever), and Egypt gets millions of dollars in USAID. Let's hope that at least improves in the post-Mubarak era.

[penitent2401]

at least they hides the gaping hole and have a real toilet. i've been on a train where you have a gaping hole for a toilet. that's not cos it's falling apart really, that was how it was built, don't think the people who built it ever heard of a toilet seat. that was in vietnam btw

[DaSlug32]

@SIPHNEY Just surprised the trains are still running, and that Mugabe has not stolen that money as well.

[SIPHNEY]

@DaSlug32 wats tht supposed to mean

[boundryrider]

How can anyone respect as Despot such as Mugabe! As mentioned above, sanctions DO NOT prevent you from planting after you harvest. Facts are Mugabe ran productive white farmers off the land. This has seemed to slip some peoples minds. Some of these farms were in fact purchased post 1980 also seems to have slipped some peoples minds. Mugabe's skin colour has got absolutely nothing to do with the condition Zimbabwe is in at the moment. Playing the race card just buries heads deeper in the sand.

[DaSlug32]

Zimbabwe have got trains. Wow Mugabe is too kind.

[irvin2cartel]

As a matter of fact prepschoolkid you are wrong. People respect Mugabe and all the other dead and living heroes for leading Zimbabwe out of colonialism. The downfall of the country was not only caused by mugabe but by the ignorance of the wider word. People do not support mugabe because he is black, they support him for his heroics...... Roy Bennett is white, but people support him in Zimbabwe.

[mchigubu]

prepschoolkid, You better be a NON-BLACK! Yes, to a NON-BLACK, Rhodesia was prosperous. Rhodesia did NOT have SATANIC SANCTIONS like what Mugabe has! Smith was pampered by night with ALL the nice goodies Israel, UK & all could give him, and by day, Smith enojyed "FALSE SANCTIONS". Rhodesia was simply the HEAVEN for non-Blacks! SATANIC SANCTIONS are meant to de-populate Blacks under false pretence of "imposing travel sanctions on 203 governement officials" as if they care to go to Europe.