Decades on, devotion of Chinese experts still commemorated in Tanzania

DAR ES SALAAM, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Tucked in the lush greens of the western suburbs in Tanzania's largest city Dar es Salaam, the Chinese Experts Cemetery houses the graves of 70 Chinese experts, technicians and workers, who lost their lives while assisting Tanzania in its national construction.

Among them, 47 died while building the Tanzania-Zambia Railway. In the 1970s, some 50,000 Chinese joined the Tanzanian and Zambian people in its construction.

Facing challenges including food shortage, hot weather, diseases, and lack of medicines, the Chinese engineers and technicians worked side by side with their African brothers and sisters in the African continent.

Hailed as the Freedom Railway, the Tanzania-Zambia Railway was constructed as a turnkey project between 1970 and 1975 through an interest-free loan from China.

With commercial operations starting in July 1976, the railway covers 1,860 kilometers from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia.

"These graves always remind me of my friends who devoted their lives to us, " 69-year-old Juma Khalfan Said told Xinhua.

"These graves are a memory that will last forever because these people were supposed to be buried in their country but they were rested here because they chose to help us in the construction," said Said, who worked at the railway for over 30 years.

In 1972, Said was selected to study in China and majored in railway management. He was assigned to work at the Dar es Salaam Station after completion of his study in Beijing in 1975.

Recalling the times of building the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, Said said working in the wilderness entails wild animals and accidents. "The danger is everywhere. When wading through the river, you may be attacked by crocodiles. And rocks fall during construction of tunnels," he added.

"Our Chinese friends never gave up. They told me they would finish the construction no matter what happened and they made it, " Said told Xinhua.

Said visits the cemetery every year after his retirement in 2007. "They were far away from their country and relatives, and were not able to be buried in their homeland. I feel I'm obliged to visit them, " he said.

"In the 1970s, I worked at Dar es Salaam station with the Chinese experts rendering technical assistance and cooperation here and they were so meticulous when they taught me how to plan routing and scheduling," Said said, adding that the memory of those years still lingers on till now.

"What they have taught me benefits me for my whole working career, " he said.

According to official statistics, the Tanzania-Zambia Railway has transported more than 30 million tonnes of cargo and more than 40 million passengers since the operation began.

The Tanzania-Zambia railway not only greatly improves the transportation in the two countries, but also provided an affordable and reliable way of transportation for the public, he said.