Assessing Community Participation in Solid Waste Management in Kisasa Zone, Kibuli, Makindye East Division; Kampala-Uganda.

Abstract

Back ground; Community participation in solid waste management is one of the challenges facing many urban areas worldwide as it is also seen in Africa ( Mugagga et al 2006). And as such, waste management is an issue which should be shared by every individual, community, organization or country worldwide (World Bank, 2010). In Uganda, limited participation has budded from co-ordination and collaboration problems that exist among the three stakeholders in solid waste management- the communities, the public (government) and the private sectors (NEMA, 2007). The main objective of the study was to assess community participation in solid waste management in Kisasa zone in Kibuli, Kampala. Methodology; The study was descriptive cross sectional, both qualitative and quantitative methodologies of data collection were used. Simple random sampling technique was used and Primary data was through questionnaires while secondary data was obtained through sources like books on solid waste management. A total of 100 respondents were consulted after which data was analyzed by use of SPSS version 17. Results: According to the questionnaires, respondents answered with multiple responses. According to the results, most residents 56(56%) were singles with age bracket 21-25years and atleast 30(30%) had attained up to secondary level. due to limited sites of waste disposal, majority of community members had negative attitude about solid waste disposal as this was evidenced by respondents rating of poor/very poor. However majority of respondents participated in solid waste management though majority 45(45%) stored the waste in the compound and they said they did that due to the delays in garbage collection. Most of the respondents 66(66%) had knowledge on solid waste management in Kisasa as they could clearly define and tell the importance of solid waste management. However 52(52%) were not satisfied with the collection services of which 40% stated that waste takes long at the collection site. Conclusion: According to the findings, most people had knowledge on solid waste management though a big percentage of them used polythene bags for storing their waste, however most of the respondents were not satisfied with the collection services where by majority used children to transport waste to the collection site. Recommendations: Environmentalists and health workers should focus more on giving information to the community other than them getting information from friends and family members as some information may be wrong.