Solid waste management and disposal in mafraq city

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SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT AND DISPOSAL IN MAFRAQ CITY,

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Human society makes a living by extracting environmental resources for food, shelter, and clothing, using tools he conceives, fabricates and develops over time. His ingenuity at making tools perfects his power to obtain and utilize the available resources sometimes with impunity. Such technological sophistication termed civilization facilitates faster acquisition and utilization of environmental resources. The consumption of these resources tends to generate waste or unwanted materials that must be discarded. These wastes vary from gaseous, liquid and solid substances, generated as a result of human activities (Peter, Karl, and Jurg, 1996).

According to Ezema (2009), wastes are useless, unwanted and discarded materials.

Douglas (2004) corroborates Ezema‟s stance and argues that waste is material which arises from animal and human life and activities and is discarded as useless and unwanted items. Solid waste can also be referred to as wastes from households, municipal services, construction debris and agricultural activities (Amalu and Ajake, 2014). Odacha (1994) considered wastes as material which though may no longer be needed here become feed stock or materials elsewhere. In fact, he defines waste as those materials which are generated as a result of normal operations over which we have control in terms of their production, disposal, and discharge.

Human society at every stage of civilization generates wastes, however, the rate of generation and methods of disposal vary from the individual to nation depending on the level of the technological development. One of the challenges of the 21st century is how to achieve cost-effective and environmentally sound strategies to deal with the global waste crisis confronting humanity in both developed and developing countries. The crisis has threatened the carrying capacity of the life support systems. Waste generation and disposal has in time past caused environmental pollution with disastrous health consequences (Ayuba, 2005). Srinivas (2002) reported that at least 60% of the countries that submitted the national report to the United Nations in advance of the 1992 UN Earth Summit said that solid waste disposal was among their biggest environmental concern, while the United Nation Centre for Human Settlement report that only between 25% and 55% of all waste generated in large cities are collected by municipal authorities.

The United Nation Development Program (UNDP, 2009) estimated that more than five million people die each year from disease related to inadequate waste disposal system. Most cities in Africa are with fast expansion of urban areas and are characterized by lack of resources, institutional organization and the capacity to provide basic infrastructure, which will in turn cause increased problem concerning the management of solid waste. Moreover, the lack of proper land use planning has resulted in the creation of informal settlement, with narrow streets and makes it difficult for collection trucks to reach many areas in the cities.

Solid waste management could be defined as the discipline associated with the control of generation, storage, collection, transfer and transport, processing and disposal of solid waste in a manner that is in accord with the best principles of public health, economic, engineering, conservation, aesthetics and other environment consideration that is also responsive to public attitudes (Tchobanoglousetal 1993). Municipal solid waste management is an important part of urban infrastructure that ensures the protection of the environment and human health (Aliyu, 2010).

The current capacity of most solid waste management system in Africa is inadequate and too slow to meet the increasing demand of solid waste generated (Tadesse, 2004). Solid waste management has emerged as one of the greatest challenges facing state and local government environmental protection agencies in Nigeria. The volume of solid waste being generated continues to increase at a faster rate than the ability of the agencies to improve on the financial and technical resources needed to parallel this growth. Solid waste management in Nigeria is characterized by inefficient collection methods, insufficient coverage of the collection system and improper disposal of solid waste (Amber, Kulla and Gukop, 2012). The challenge in handling solid waste management in Nigeria is the ineffective institutional framework that will effectively tackle the problem. This is due mainly to lack of political will and misunderstanding of the magnitude of the problem that waste poses to the society and the inability of authority to take cognizance of the dangers posed by solid waste such as clogging of sewage channels resulting to flooding, malaria from stagnant and stored water, and other forms of diseases (Patrick, 1999).

The sustainable management of waste approach aims at global environmental quality, which is a pre-requisite for a rise in per capita welfare over a period of time (Ayininuola and Muibi, 2008). Efficient management of waste is a global concern requiring extensive research and development works towards exploring newer application for a sustainable and environmentally sound management (Bari, Hassan and Haque, 2012). The problem of waste management is a primordial and present issue in developing countries in Africa, particularly Nigeria. Municipal waste management problems in Nigeria cut across concerns for human health, air, water, and land pollution among others. The analysis of the key problem affecting the efficient management of municipal waste is critical for evolving a workable solution in an emerging economy like Nigeria. The transformation of the existing trends in municipal waste management is necessary for ensuring sustainable environments and other objectives (Abila and Kantola, 2013).

In Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja waste composition is heterogeneous and is mixed: non-degradable materials and degradable components. The territory is classified into three categories for management of solid waste; category (i) the satellite towns which include Nyanya, Gwagwalada, Bwari, Kuje among others are managed by their municipal area councils. Category (ii) the city centre, which include; Garki, Gwarimpa, Wuse Zones and category (iii) the Central Business Distrct, which include; Wuse II, Garki, Gwarimpa, Wuse zones and category three; Maitama, Asokoro and Central Business District (CBD) been managed Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB). The funding comes from the FCT administration.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

According to Ogu (2000), a major consequence of rapid urbanization is the growing generation of waste, and many city authorities face unprecedented challenges in managing. Kgosiesele and Zhaohui (2010) stated that among the various kinds of waste, municipal solid waste is the mostly generated type of waste. Municipal solid waste (MSW) comprises of combined domestic, commercial and industrial waste generated in a given municipality or locality (Kothari, Tyagi and Pathak, 2010). Domestic wastes constitute the highest percentage of municipal waste which are neither disposed properly nor collected by wastes management authorities. Fakere, Fadairo and Oriye (2012) opined that domestic waste constitutes the highest percentage of waste generated in Akure when compared with other sources which is similar to the situation in several other South-Western Nigerian cities.

In most developing countries, the problems associated with solid waste management are more acute than in the developed countries (Zerbock, 2003). Lack of financial resources and infrastructure to deal with solid waste creates a vicious cycle; lack of resources leads to low quality of service provision which leads to fewer people willing to pay for services, which in turn further erodes the resource base and so on (Kuniyal, Jain and Shannigrahi, 1998; Zerbock, 2003). The problem is further complicated by the rapid growth in population and urbanization, which has influenced an increase in the volume of waste being generated and also on waste retrieval/disposal services in municipal areas. However, more often than not, an increase in population is not matched with an equal increase in service and revenue for the local municipalities for waste management (Zerbock, 2003).

Al-Khatib, Monou, Zahra, Shaheen and Kassinos (2010) study discovered that based on the estimate that the total solid waste quantity was 51,160 tons in 2005, the cost of collection and disposal of each ton is approximately 53 USD. The fee collection for the Nablus city municipality was 466,273 USD in 2005; this represents only 17% of the total expenditure costs. Despite the assigned fees for waste collection and transportation, most people are unable to pay resulting in the revenue collected contributing to less than 20% of the money needed to run the services (UNEP, 2003). The collection rate of municipal solid waste fees from Nablus city residents has been at a record low during the past five years, ranging from 30 to 60%. Consequently, this has reflected negatively on the level of services offered.

Srinivas (2002), in his assessment of solid waste management, discovered that one of the most pressing problems facing major urban areas in the developing countries at present is indiscriminate disposal of huge quantities of solid wastes, which accumulate in their cities as a by-product of modernization. Unfortunately, all aspects of man’s productive activities virtually involve wastes generation. Similarly, Babayemi and Dauda

(2009) reported that solid waste management in Southwest Nigeria suffers set- backs due to unwholesome waste disposal habits of the citizens as well as funding and sanitation laws enforcement impotency. Troschinetz (2005) further observed that in many developing countries, adequate funds are not available to implement technology that is reliable and appropriate.

Sunday (2013) assessed the waste disposal problems and management in Ughelli,

Nigeria. The study revealed that the Government agencies Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) accounted for 12% of the collection of solid wastes in the area, 23% from private agencies, while the remaining 65% which is a very large proportion of the population disposed their wastes themselves. The implication of this is that the local government council Ughelli does not put any agency in place for the evacuation of solid wastes except the waste van provided by NDDC in recent times for the evacuation of waste, which is not very regular and effective. Thus wastes are dumped indiscriminately in the neighbourhoods.

A study carried out by Fakere, Fadairo and Oriye (2012) revealed the state of refuse disposal as generally absurd which emanates from the laissez-faire approach of the people towards indiscriminate dumping of refuse and delay in evacuation by the waste management authority. Refuse dumps littered the environment which was an eyesore and that 68.5% dispose their refuse indiscriminately out of which 31.5% dump theirs in open spaces that constitute breeding grounds for rodents, flies, mosquitoes, snakes and harbour for other dangerous animals as well as hindering the free flow of run-off.

However despite the structure put in place by the administration of Federal Capital Territory to collect and manage solid waste in the study area one still finds solid wastes littered along the major streets in Maitama District. Similarly, the attendant environmental implication of the above has become worrisome to the various stakeholders in the territory, hence the need for sustainable domestic solid waste management system. It is against this background that this study intends to fill the knowledge gap. The study will attempt to answer the following questions;

  1. Who are the residents of the area of Maitama District?
  2. How is this structure coordinated?
  • How sustainable is solid waste management in Maitama?
  1. What role do scavengers play in solid waste management in Maitama?

1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The aim of this study is to Analyse the structure and sustainability of solid waste management and in Maitama District of Abuja. The specific objectives of the study are to:-

  1. to identify the residents of the area of Maitama district
  2. examine the coordination of the solid waste management in the district
  • examine the sustainability of the process of solid waste management from generation to disposal
  1. identify the role of scavengers in solid waste management in Maitama

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The spatial scope of this study intends to cover domestic solid waste management in Maitama District of Abuja while the content scope is limited to types of solid waste, composition of waste, collection and disposal methods of domestic solid waste in the study area. The temporal scope will cover all the domestic solid waste management systems in Maitama District as at December, 2014.

 

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Although a lot of study has been done on the issue of solid waste in FCT, Abuja metropolis, nevertheless this study want to demonstrate an aspect of understanding that a lot of the strategies used by FCT can be adopted by some parts of FCT and other states of the federation to keep a clean and good environment, as this will go a long way in control of a lot of sickness, diseases and clogging of water ways which eventually lead to flooding.               It is enough to put structures in place to maintain waste, it will require some level of supervision and maintenance and also as you swing the structure into action think of sustainability. Maitama district was chosen because it happens to be classified with

Asokoro, Wuse II and Central Business District CBD under category A according to Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB). Waste generation is an important aspect of the study which was  used with the annual population growth to project future waste generation between 5-10 years ahead, knowing well that our population is on the increase daily statistic from FCT administration shows that about 100,000 people come into Abuja daily, only 15,000 travele back. This research will greatly affect planners, policy makers and the public to evolve rational and sustainable policies on proper solid waste management and disposal practice in Abuja. The findings in this research will arouse awareness and involvement of residents within and outside the capital city and neighbouring states around in solid waste management for sustainable and responsible environmental management.

 

 

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