Ox cart on
rutted village road in Madagascar |
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Should wooden cartwheels
be banned in Madagascar?
In Madagascar, senior policy
makers in the transport sector attended a workshop on rural transport.
During the first day, rural road maintenance was discussed. The
traditional wooden cartwheels with their narrow metal-rims damage
the rural roads. Several people thought traditional carts should
be banned to protect the roads. Only modern carts with pneumatic
tyres would be allowed. The workshop participants then visited villages
and put such ideas to local farmers, transporters and village authorities.
The farmers agreed that cartwheels made ruts in road, but pointed
out that ox carts were the main users of the rural roads. There
was no point in protecting empty roads. Farmers gave eight reasons
why traditional cartwheels were better than pneumatic tyres on rural
tracks. The cartwheel issue was more complex than people had imagined.
It will not be easy to resolve but immediate prohibition is not
a realistic solution. The great importance of such 'networking'
and dialogue between planners and transport users was recognised
by all concerned.
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