Due to what the company has described as “uncertainty engulfing the local economy” Central East African Railways (Cear), has said it registered slow business in the second quarter of the year.

Cear Financial Manager, Christina Chithila said that during period in review, the railway company trasported a lower amount of cargo, from 115 tonnes last year to 104 tonnes this year. However, she was upbeat about the company’s performance, where passengers are concerned. “On passengers, we have improved a lot including changing the transit time. We used to take 12 hours to travel from Blantyre to Balaka- Nayuchi and back but now that journey is only taking six hours.”

In March, The Polytechnic penned a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with CEAR. The MoU aimed at providing industrial attachment opportunities to both academic staff and students so that they should have a hands on experience. The MoU states quite a number of areas which in the long run will benefit the nation as a whole.