[rts] Week 2 - some questions

[Ranjith de Silva]

Dear colleagues

I will try to join others and try to answer questions raised by Priyanthi
and  Peter's general question at the conclusion of Week 1 summary. Finding
answers is really a difficult task but would be able to synthesize the
experiences of people who tried out several approaches.

"To have a strong voice of the disadvantage or the poorest of the poor at
the decision making level "! Will it remain as a question forever? or try
to find a way out through practical processes on pilot basis. Politicians
will have to play a prominent role to find a solution for this. It is true
that most of the politicians in the third world are corrupt but still have
to give patient hearing for civil society groups for their burning
problems. There are poverty alleviation programmes in some countries like
the "Samurdhi" in Sri Lanka. The transport perspective of this programme is
not very strong. They only have some infrastructure development (which is a
burning problem) but that is not sustainable in terms of maintenance.
However, it is evident that NGOs (who work more closely with the people and
build their negotiation & participatory capacities) are excluded from these
programmes and the authority is highly politicized. This is why the
politicians will have to be made aware of the importance of NGO
participation and make the programmes "non-political". The strong NFG in
Sri Lanka has included in their new strategy to expand their membership to
Provincial Officials and representatives of grassroots level civil groups.
Something in relation to the civil society needs, is happening elsewhere
and it is up to the development experts to exploit the situations to come
out with practical solutions.

How can the private sector play a role in rural development? It is a real
tough task to impress people of the  usefulness of IMTs. The agents of the
"Bajaj" three wheeled auto taxi could sell only two units in Sri Lanka in
the first year and just above 20 in the second. Now, there are more than
200,000 Bajajs (over a period of 10 years) and similar designs in the
country including the rural areas. It depends on several factors, like the
appropriateness (non availability of conventional modes, culture and
mechanical features), affordability and availability. A small scale
manufacturer in a rural area may not be able to fulfill all these
requirements due to various reasons. However, a large scale manufacturer
would be able to do it like the manufacture of bicycles, if we are talking
about the "rich" private sector. But, a small-scale enterprise is also a
private concern. A small private company in Nepal is developing manually
operated cable cars for river crossings in the rural sector. Every trailer
of a two wheeled tiller in Sri Lanka is made at a rural workshop.

A rich person could provide a cheaper transport service, who could afford
to buy one or more IMTs. The private sector could get involved in
developing transport technologies, if they can only see a potential market
for the final product. 

The things to do at the policy level are to provide a favourable
environment such as, relaxation of financial regulations, revise and amend
existing traffic laws,  steps to promote manufacture of IMTs etc. The wider
use of IMTs would benefit the rural poor and finding a way to take up their
needs at the policy levels to make the above changes is how I define as a
methodology to reflect the needs of the poor in national/regional planning.
There should be a mechanism for constant flow of information to the policy
makers either in a top down or bottom up approach. It will be rather too
late to wait for the problems to come up and then find solutions. This
usually happens in the developing countries where planning is  not still
meeting the needs of the majority. For example, a government relaxes the
importation of motorised vehicles. After various types of motor vehicles
flood the streets, they prepare plans to take measures to prevent the air
pollution, limiting motor vehicles coming into the cities or
construct/widen the roads. 

The role of NGOs, civil society groups and forums is very vital.

Thank you.

Regards.

Ranjith

 At 01:54 PM 20/10/2000 +0100, priyanthi.fernando at mcmail.com wrote:
>Priyanthi Fernando from the IFRTD Secretariat, making a posting 
>as a participant in the list.
>
>Peter Njenga concluded the Week 1 summary with the 
>unanswered question "should we be asking what conditions 
>influence and favour the more equitable development of rural 
>transport solutions?"
>
>Rajendra Aryal's posting this week suggests that mechanisms 
>need to be designed so that the disadvantaged and the poorest of 
>the poor have a strong presence during the planning process as 
>well as implementation, and operation and management. 
>
>The World Bank's perspective is that rural transport services should 
>be left to the private sector and that government should create an 
>enabling environment for the development of these services.  
>
>I think we can all agree in principle to the above.  What we, or at 
>any rate I, don't know is exactly HOW this can be done.  What are 
>our examples of good practice?  Where have the poor had a strong 
>presence in planning, implementation, operation and management  
>and use of transport services and what have been the elements of 
>government policy and action that have made this happen?
>
>In Nepal, much of the community participatory activities have taken 
>place in the context of rural transport infrastructure development.  
>Do we have similar examples in developing rural transport 
>SERVICES?
>
>This list has a number of participants from a wide range of 
>countries and institutions working on rural transport issues. I am 
>sure some one will be able to respond to my questions.
>
>Thank you.
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Rtslist mailing list
>Rtslist at news.gn.apc.org
>http://news.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/rtslist

Ranjith de Silva
Senior Specialist - Transport
International Transport Programme
Intermediate Technology Development Group
South Asia Regional Office
No.5 Lionel Edirisinghe Mawatha
Kirulapone
Colombo 5
Sri Lanka

Telephone: (++ 94 1) 852149, 829412 - 5, (++ 94 74) 510238
Fax:	(++ 94 1) 856188
Email:	ranjith at itdg.lanka.net
Alternatives:
ranjith_itdg at hotmail.com