Factors that Contribute for Poor Solid Waste Disposal Management in Ethiopia
Introduction
The poor solid waste disposal management is a growing health threat among the nations. Because of the aim of the country to develop and catch with the developed countries, the industrial sectors that are identified to be the strongest point of every economy are prioritized. The change in technological and technical aspects also creates a great impact in the industrial sector. However, the issue of pollution and the proper waste management are suspicious and often neglected by most of the organization. Because of the simple ways that might pollute the environment, the climate changes and the consequences it brought became more obvious in the present times.
Different Factors
The Ethiopian city council recognizes six major sources of solid waste: households, street, commercial institutes, industries, hotels and hospitals. Available data for 1993 shows that households take the lion share of solid waste generated in the city. From total generated households 71%, street 10%, commercial institutions 9%, industries 6%, hotels 3% and hospitals 1%.
A human excreta is the major area of concern even from the household wastes. In 1984 about 30% of the population of the city has no access to latrines. This proportion estimated to have only slightly fallen to 29.2 per cent in 1997 in relative terms. This means almost one-third of the population of the city has no latrines and experiences open defecation. Hence human excreta take proportionate share of the solid waste in the city. Moreover the available septic tanks used in the latrines usually overflows and pollute most of the older and overcrowded inner city with no short term solutions (Yami, 1999). The city administration has been making extensive efforts towards providing public laterins towards this end.
Ash and smoke are other major components of waste originating from households. Apart from lighting, electricity has never been an important source of energy for the larger proportion of households. The study conducted by Beyene (1992) indicates that firewood, charcoal, dung cakes and other traditional bi-products are the major sources of energy for domestic use. For instance, the 1994 census result indicates that the domestic energy requirement of about 47 percent of housing units of the city is met from fire wood and leaves, charcoal, cow dung cakes and manure and combination of all these and kerosene. The amount of ash and smoke generated through combustion of these materials is immense.
The other household waste worth consideration is “chat” which being increasingly used by most of the population of the city. It consumed as means of recreation by many people and serves as a stimulant. However, the increasing number of people using chat, its disposal in the ditches, open space and drainage systems liter the urban area and block the drainage systems to the determent of the environment and the health of population.
Industrial waste is apparently insignificant. In 1993 it account for 6 per cent of total volume of waste generated in the city. Although industrial solid wastes proportionately law, location factors and pollution control measures are yet to be adequately enforced. Although it is obvious that this particular instance has historical and economic reasons, its effect on the environment is undeniable. Landfill sites itself needs an attention. Landfill has impact on the surface and ground water. Decomposition of organic materials produces different gases, which has effect on the air above. Hence proper use of landfill requires certain standard including spreading refuse in the thin layers and compacting by bulldozer before next year spread. All measures meant to control contamination of surface and ground water as well as the air. None of these practices are apparent in the landfill site of the city. Moreover, it is unprotected where children, destitute women and youngsters scavenging for survival. This also needs proper attention (Kuma, 2004).
The increasing problem of urban waste management has its roots in history. When the time the city was built as an administrative center in 1880s there was hardly any thought of waste as a proportional threat. Never the settlement pattern or the mind setup of residents was in conformity with waste management issues. Thus the current problems are, at least in part, the cumulative effects of the historical development patterns of the city through the century and traditions of its people. With these features the expanse of the city space shows the immensity of the problem with high cost implications to ameliorate it (Kuma, 2004).
References:
Beyene, G., (1999) Managing Solid Waste in Addis Ababa paper presented in the Integrated Development for Water Supply and Sanitation, Addis Ababa.
Kuma, T., (2004) Dry Waste Management in Addis Ababa City, Ethiopian Development Research Institute. Ecological and Environmental Economics Programme
Yami, B., (1999) Solid Waste Management in Ethiopia- paper presented in the Integrated Development for Water Supply and Sanitation, Addis Ababa.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment