The role of the public and the municipal council in the disposal of residental solid waste in Mombasa, Kenya
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Date
2012-02-24
Authors
Omollo, Maurice Oduor
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Abstract
In order to adequately manage the residential solid waste, the public, the municipal authority and the private sector need to be involved. Solid waste problem, however, has basically been an attitudinal one. This study, therefore, set to investigate the role of the Municipal authority and the residents of Mombasa Municipality in the disposal of residential solid waste in as far as their attitudes towards waste pollution is concerned.
The research hypothesized that there is a significant difference in the public's knowledge of spatial variation of solid waste pollution levels. It also hypothesized that there exists significant differences in the attitudes of the public towards solid waste pollution and towards private waste collection. That there is a significant difference between source of information on solid waste and attitude towards solid waste; and assumed that employment status, sex, age and religion affect the attitude towards solid waste. An examination was also done of what the Municipality has done and continues to do in the management of its residential solid waste.
Both secondary and primary data were used and these were derived through observation, the questionnaire and an interview schedule. The research was conducted in two stages; the first stage involved 360 respondents equally divided among the commercial, industrial, transport and institutional/educational land uses. These provided information concerning the least and most polluted residential areas and the results were subjected to the Spearman’s Rank Correlation test. In the second stage, 60 and 30 respondents from the most and least polluted residential areas were interviewed about their attitudes towards solid waste and towards private waste collection, respectively. Their responses were subjected to a Chi-square test and their significance determined. A multinomial logit log linear test was undertaken to determine if source of information significantly affected attitude towards solid waste. The Mombasa Municipal Council was also approached about how it handles the solid waste problem.
Kongowea and Nyali were considered the most and the least polluted residential areas, respectively. There existed no significant difference in regard to public's knowledge of spatial variation of solid waste pollution levels in Mombasa Municipality. Attitude towards solid waste and towards private collection strongly differed in the Municipality. Source of information on solid waste, which was mainly observation, did not also affect the attitude towards solid waste significant factor that affected attitude towards solid waste. The Mombasa Municipal Council (MMC) was also seen to have neglected the mainland divisions in its solid waste management, and has left them to the profit-making private waste collectors.
Amongst other recommendation, this study expects the MMC to provide civic education on the management of solid waste and thus help change the attitude of the residents concerning solid waste management. The private waste collectors should be supported and be paid for from the Municipality. The residents should also form community groups to handle their uncollected waste and support strategies endorsed by the Municipality to alleviate the residential solid waste problem by willingly and honestly providing information on their local environments.
Description
The HD 4485.K4 O4
Keywords
Refuse and refuse disposal--Kenya, Mombasa//Refuse disposal industries