Sadc technocrats bang heads on rural transport services
Engineers, economists and planners from the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) on Mondaystarted banging heads on how best to improve rural transport services for the betterment of rural masses in the region.
The five-day research initiative, which ends tomorrow, is designed to address challenges operators face in providing reliable access to rural communities in Africa.
The course is funded by Britain’s Department for International Development (DfID) and Malawi through the African Community Access Programme (Acap).
Participants are also discussing the significance of transport services provision and its impact on goods and services.
Participants are also sharing knowledge on rural user needs and access to transport services in sub-Sahara Africa, transport services and operations’ current patterns and constraints, the broader transport services context.
Other issues on the agenda include; planning transport services with stakeholders, road safety and qualitative research methods and quantitative research methods and research in practice.
Opening the training workshop, director of road traffic in the ministry of transport and public works, James Chirwa said the training was aimed to promote best transport practices through well trained and equipped resources.
“Issues of transport in rural areas become a challenge, especially during rainy seasons and the training has been designed to address such challenges.
“Transport faces many challenges; hence the need for stakeholders to come together and find solutions,” said Chirwa.
Dr Ignasio Ngoma, director for Malawi Transportation Technology Transfer Centre (MTTC) said the training workshop that drew participants from Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi was meant to improve the road infrastructure in the Sadc region.
