segunda-feira, 6 de dezembro de 2010

Zambezi & Sena History

Zambezi River Geography
Source in Zambia 11 deg 22 min S, 24 deg 18 min E
Nearby peak is 1 454 m high
Flows N then curves W around Kalene Hill.
Early Christian missionary was Frederick Arnot.
Missionary station there founded by Dr Fisher in 1906. He removed cataracts from a chieftainess successfully in around 1910 and achieved much kudos thereby.

The basin containing L Malawi & Shire River is the Great Rift Valley. When the valley crosses the Zambezi River it forms the Urema Trough which runs S for another 280 km & captures the Rio Pungue before running into the sea S of Beira.

Bight of Sofala: from Pebane in the Nort to the Save River in the S, heavy alluvial loads have been deposited by all the rivers over centuries. Sedimentary build-up caused subsidence of the earth's crust resulting in inundation & creation of a 145 km wide continental shelf.
This gives rise to the highest tidal range in the world, no corals and turbid waters due to wind action stirring up the sediments.

1498 Vasco de Gama reaches Quelimane.
Lower reach of Zambesi River known as the Cuama.

1531 Portuguese establish a presence at the Arab settlement of Sena
1553 Portuguese begin to build at Tete
1700 Joao dos Santos, Dominican monk, visited Tete
1851 Dr David Livingstone passed through Tete
1907 Sena Sugar Co. founded & owned by the British in Caia
1910 HQ moved to Marromeu
1924 Luabo mill started to be built. Both factories supplied from 25 000 ha of cane
1947 Marromeu linked by rail to Beira
1964 10Y War against Portugal starts
1967 Chief Engineer: Harry Benwell, from 1967 to 1972
GM at the time was a Mr Rubello
1974 10Y War with Portugal ends
1975 Mozambican Independence
1976 War against Rhodesia starts
1979 War against Rhodesia ends
1980 Civil War starts
1983 Rail damaged; reverted to river traffic
1985 By this time 22 000 employees, 27 000 head of cattle, coconut plantation for copra.
War terminated sugar manufacture.
Luabo occupied by Renamo from July 1985 to March 1987 & badly damaged
1986 In January 2 columns of Renamo overcame the 1 000 strong garrison of Marromeu. Bank blown up & factory generators destroyed.
14 days later town re-taken by Rhodesian troops; therefore destruction was limited.
Sena town had a 4 km rail bridge across the river; 2 spans blown by Rhodesian forces.
1990 Small sugar crop planted in anticipation of rehab of mill
1992 Civil War ends

1996 FUEL looking for investment off the island of Mauritius (MRU); Paul Berenger & MRU businessmen visit Mocambique.
All other mills have already been bought by T-H or Illovo
1997 Discussions concluded for Sena Estates (Marromeu, Luabo, Chinde, …….)
98 000 ha in total; agric land via 99 year leases, urban purchased outright.
Government had been supporting about 1 500 employees; The purchasers agreed to keep on 300.
1998 Bernard de Robillard planted Zimbabwean cane in a nursery (currently importing from Barbados).
1999 February; a team arrived to commence rehab (J-L Harel GM, Anton de Waal Project Manager, Tony Smith). Objective was to start crushing in July 2001 with enough cane to manufacture 40 000 tons of sugar.

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