峡谷のペトラ遺跡、馬車の代わりに電動カートで

【ペトラＡＦＰ＝時事】ヨルダンのペトラ遺跡に向かう観光客は長年、馬やラバが引く馬車に乗っていた。しかし動物愛護の観点から、こうした馬車を電動カートに置き換える試みが始まっている。（写真は観光客を乗せてヨルダンのペトラ遺跡に向かう電動カートと近くで馬に乗る地元民）
　現在運行されているのは、ゴルフ場のものと同様の充電式電動カート１０台。「シーク」と呼ばれるばら色の峡谷を抜け、紀元前１世紀にナバテア人が建てた都市ペトラの遺跡へ向かう。
　ペトラの開発・観光当局のスレイマン・ファラジャット氏は、電動カートは汚染も排ガスもなく、切り替えによって「動物虐待の件数も減少した」と評価する。
　馬車だと「車輪が峡谷の岩壁に当たったり（中略）馬ふんが悪臭の原因となったりする。清掃も難しい」。カートの方がそうした問題が少ないと言う。
　ただし、ペトラ遺跡は国連教育科学文化機関（ユネスコ）の「世界遺産なので、その特徴を保全するために」一部の馬車を当面残す方針だ。

■ユニバーサルアクセス
　電動カートの導入が歓迎される理由はもう一つある。高齢者や障がい者もはるかに遺跡を訪れやすくなったのだ。
　オーストリアから観光に来た車いす利用者のルディさん（４３）は「障がい者だけでなく、長い距離を歩くのが難しい人にとっても（中略）この素晴らしい場所を見るチャンスが開かれています」と語る。
　米国から来たアンジーさん（６０）も同じ意見だ。「このような美しい場所に（カートが）あるのは少し場違いのようにも見えますが、私たちの年齢になると、電動カートで戻って来られるのがありがたかったです」 【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/11/29-13:21）

Horses and mules have long drawn tourist carriages through Jordan's ancient city of Petra, but animal rights concerns are driving a project to start replacing them with electric vehicles.
A small fleet of 10 rechargeable e-carts now take visitors through the rose-coloured Siq or gorge leading to the famed capital of the Nabateans, which dates back to the first century BC.
There is no pollution or smoke and the change has reduced the cases of animal mistreatment, said Suleiman Farajat, head of the Petra Development and Tourism Regional Authority.
The golf buggy-style vehicles have less impact because sometimes the carriage wheels hit the sides of the Siq ... the horse dung caused a bad smell in the place, and cleaning it was not easy.
It was an unpleasant experience for the tourists, the horses and us, said Farajat.
Animal rights group PETA, which had criticised the use of the often scrawny and overworked draft animals, has described the project as a major first step to protect working animals.
The group hailed the game-changing vehicles and added that it hopes to work with officials toward the day when there will be only animal-free transportation at Petra.
For now the Petra authority says it will keep some of the horses to preserve the character of the place, as it is a world heritage site.
- 'This amazing place' -
The change has however also been hailed for another reason -- helping to make the UNESCO World Heritage Site far more accessible to elderly and disabled visitors.
Austrian tourist Rudy, 43, who uses a wheelchair, said he had repeatedly postponed a visit because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and was now very happy to have made the trip.
Disabled people but also people who have difficulty walking for a long distance ... now have a chance to see this amazing place.
A US tourist named Angie, 60, agreed: It seems a little bit out of character to have these in a beautiful place like this. But at our age, it was nice to come back in an electric cart.
Jordan's tourism industry is recovering from the blow of Covid-19, having previously relied on it for more than 10 percent of its GDP. The pandemic slashed revenues from $5.8 billion in 2019 to $1 billion last year.
Petra, Jordan's most famous tourism site, provides a living for hundreds of families.
The move to replace 12 horse-drawn carriages with 10 e-carts was agreed with the horse owners' association.
Foreign tourists pay 25 dinars ($35) and Jordanians 15 dinars for the round trip from the visitor centre to the archaeological site.
The association receives 75 percent of the income, while 25 percent goes to the authority, said Farajat.
The head of the association, Mohammad Amarat, said those operating the electric carts earn more than 300 Jordanian dinars (about $423) per month.
One benefit is that the carts can carry five passengers, compared to just two in the horse-drawn carriages.
He prefers the new vehicles because previously the horses were tired, their income was less, and the journey time was longer.