An assessment of solid domestic waste methods in the Afigya Sekyere District of the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
Loading...
Date
2008-07-13
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
One of the major problems facing a nation is the need for proper disposal of the volumes of solid waste generated annually. Over the last few centuries, an increase in waste has caused environmental pollution problems in the world in general and most of the developing countries in particular. Unfortunately, most cities in the developing countries such as Ghana have not made any reliable effort to provide a means for the collection and disposal of domestic wastes, the accumulation of which represents a growing hazard. The main objective of the study was to assess the solid domestic waste management methods in the Afigya Sekyere District. This study adopted descriptive cross-sectional study design with household heads or substitutes and key informants as the study subjects. Multistage, purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 427 respondents. A questionnaire was used for data collection. Focus Group Discussions were conducted to answer two of the specific objectives. Data analysis was done using SPSS Version 14 and Microsoft Excel 2007. Most of the respondents lacked proper storage receptacles (60%) and majority of the people complained about distance to the waste dump site (59%). Land for controlled refuse dump was unavailable according to 73% of the respondents. The communities largely used an open surface dump (69%) as the final point of disposal for their refuse. Waste was transported to the dump site mainly on the head of collectors, 80% had no storage receptacles in their communities while 56% of respondents emptied their storage receptacles once daily. Refuse dumps used in the communities were insanitary (open surface dumps used by 69% of respondents). Seventy-three percent (73%) of respondents recorded unavailability of land for dump site. Breeding of disease vectors and disease outbreaks were stated as the major consequences of improper solid domestic waste management (60%). Cholera was listed as the commonest disease caused by improper solid waste management (38%). Supply of household bins and community storage receptacles (29%) was the most popular suggestion for improving upon solid waste management. The key recommendations were supply of household bins and provision of proper dump site.
Description
A Thesis Submitted to the School of GRADUATE STUDIES, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in Partial Fulfilment of the Award of MSc. Degree in Health Education and Promotion.