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PERCEIVED EFFECT OF SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL TECHNIQUES ON HEALTH STATUS OF COMMUNITY RESIDENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Solid waste disposal is both urban and rural problem. Every person is a potential generator of waste and this is a contributor to this problem. To generate waste is one thing, the type of waste generated is another and also the way the generated waste is managed or disposed of is quite a different issue. It has more often than not turned out that the rate at which solid waste is generated is far higher than the capacity to responsibly manage this waste. Waste is generated by, and from different sectors, domestic, commercial, industry and others and in many instances; the waste management responsibility has been left to the government or administrative authorities. There is growing consensus that the immediate stakeholders in the issue of solid waste (the generators of waste), in this case the authorities is dealing with this problem that has far-reaching environmental and human health effects.

Solid waste refers to municipal waste from domestic, commercial, institutions and industrial sources but excluding excreta, except when it mixed with solid waste. It is however necessary to note that in developing countries many a times it becomes difficult or even impractical to put a line between excreta and solid waste. In many instances, solid waste mixed with excreta is potentially dangerous to human and animals’ health. Levine & Coed (2004).

Navarro. (2008) stated that waste generation increases not only because people multiply and hence the space available to each person becomes smaller, but also because the demand per person are continually increasing so that each person throws away more year by year. If the world’s population were evenly distributed over the earth surface most of these wastes could probably remain unnoticed and perhaps harmless. But as city population increases, their residues also increases and concentrate around them.

Solid waste disposal plays a multiple role in maintaining health and social stability and in preserving the values of a decent family life, community, State even the nation as a whole, This is because it constitute the physical environment in which society’s basic units develops. The improvement represents a concrete and visible rise in the general level of living conditions in a given location.

Agbaje, (2008) defined wastes as rubbish or materials that are not needed and are economically unusable without further processing. It may be in liquid, gas, or solid from and originated from a wide range of human operations, such as industry, commerce, transport, agriculture, medicine, and domestic activities.

UNPFA, (2006) defined waste as something which the owners no longer want at a specific time. Solid wastes can be generated from domestic, industrial, commercial and agricultural activities as long as there are human activities going on waste must be generated. However, poor solid waste disposal has been a major public health issues affecting the health quality of life of man and its environment.   In most African countries where their level of hygiene is low, accumulation of solid waste has created some health problems which are also the primary cause of epidemic resulting in severe deterioration of their health and environment.

 Brook, (1999) the term solid waste may be used to refer to municipal waste and can be categorized in seven groups. They include residential (or house hold or domestic waste). Commercial, institutional, street sweeping, construction and demolition, sanitation and industrial wastes. While municipal solid waste refers to solid wastes from houses, streets and public places, shops, offices, and hospitals, which are very often, the responsibility of municipal or other governmental authorities, solid waste from industrial processes, are generally not considered “Municipal”. However, it should be taken into account when dealing with solid waste as they often end up in the municipal solid waste.

Solid waste can also be refers as municipal waste which can be categorized into seven which include: residential, (household or domestic) commercial institutional, street sweeping construction and demolition, sanitation and industrial wastes. While municipal solid waste refers to solid waste generated from houses, streets and public places such as offices and hospitals . Rush Brook,( 1999).          

 Osinowo, (2003)  stated that it is no longer news that Lagos State is over populated with about 17 million inhabitants; and houses about 50% of industries in Nigeria. Thus, waste is generated much more than any other state in the federation. Considering the public health implications varying from transmission of communicable diseases such as yellow fever, diarrhea, cholera with malaria accounting for 25% child mortality rate in Nigeria, continuous increase in indiscriminate dumping of waste has however led to spreading of vector their and borne vehicle diseases like malaria and cholera. It has also lead to offensive odour contamination of underground water, loss of aesthetic value of the environment, and flooding as a result of accumulated wastes blocking the high ways and drainage.

The responsibility for solid waste management is placed on the shoulder of the ministry of environment (MOE), Sanitation Department of Local Government and Government Agency in particular Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA). It is noted that, solid waste disposal in Igando is being complicated on daily basis due to population growth and increase in the rate of waste being generated by the populace, which necessitates this research work.

Statement of the Problem

Solid waste disposal has been a major problem to mankind; indiscriminate waste disposal has posed major threat to human health and ecosystem. Terrestrial and aquatic lives are exposed to various health hazards due to failure of mankind to go extra mile in waste management science.

The inherent problems of waste generation, collection and disposal includes outbreak of epidemic environmental pollution and flood which often occurred due to persistent dumping of personal, industrial and domestic waste into the drainage. It is noted with dismay that indiscriminate disposal of solid waste on the highway is the causes of road accident. The prevalence of malaria and other vector and vehicle borne diseases are traceable to failure on the part of both the government and the community to instill right attitude toward waste disposal.

Research Questions

The following research questions are proposed for the study:

1.                  Will open dump techniques on health status affect solid waste disposal in Igando?

2.                  Will incineration techniques on health status affect solid waste disposal in Igando?

3.                  Will landfill techniques on health status affect solid waste disposal in Igando?

4.                  Will recycling techniques on health status affect solid waste disposal in Igando?

Research Hypotheses

The following hypotheses  constituted the basic assumptions for the study:

1.      Open dump techniques on health status will not significantly affect solid waste disposal in Igando.

2.          Incineration techniques on health status will not significantly affect solid waste disposal in Igando.

3.           Landfill techniques on health status will not significantly affect solid waste disposal in Igando.

4.         Recycling techniques on health status will not significantly affect waste disposal in Igando.

 Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to:

(1)              Identify challenges of solid waste disposal in Igando.

(2)              Establish whether there are plans in place by the waste collector, to improve residents participation for better solid waste disposal in Igando,

(3)              Enumerate the roles of stakeholders.

(4)              Suggest and evaluate residents initiatives of solving the problem of effect of solid waste disposal   in Igando.

(5)               Identify the present disposal approaches and methods practiced in Igando.

Significance of Study

The study would be useful to the Lagos State Government as the researcher had laid emphasis on challenges to an effective solid waste disposal system in Lagos. The study would also be useful to the community, during the process of   educating them on  the proper way of disposing solid waste. It may further put every stakeholder on their toes.

Delimitation of the Study

The study would be delimited to the following:

(1)              Primary stakeholders which includes, residents,  Lagos State Waste Management Authority(LAWMA), Private Sector Participation ( PSP) operators

(2)              Four (4)  Local Community Development Area ( LCDA) .This includes ,Ifeoluwa, Banjo,Feyintola and Oduduwa

(3)              Self developed structured and validated questionnaire.

(4)              Four hundred and sixty four (464) members of the communities       

(5)              Simple random and purposive sampling techniques.

(6)              Descriptive statistics of simple percentage and frequency table

(7)              Spearman ranking for testing the reliability of the instrument.

Limitation of the Study

The problem be encountered during the conduct of this research is as follow:                        1.Problem of administration and retrieval of instrument from the respondents which prompted the researcher and his assistant to adopt on the spot questionnaire administration technique for collection.

2. Challenges on the literacy level of the respondents. The researcher and the assistants have read in languages which the respondents understood as they  indicated their opinion on the question items.

Definition of Terms

Waste: Unwanted materials being produce by man and his environment.

Community: This is defined as group of people living together in a social unit having common interest, laws and culture.

Health: Is a state of wellness physical and mental not merely the absence of disease or infirmity

Disease: Abnormal state of health.

Refuse: Refuse is which the owner no longer wants at specific period of time.

Domestic Refuse: are refuse that arises from domestic activities. 

Recycling- This is the process of collection, disposal and transformation of economical valuable materials from waste which are used for production of new items.

Solid waste: This is waste materials resulting from human activities that ares useless or unwanted.

Environmental Sanitation: This is the activities that deal with keeping and maintaining clean and tidy vicinity and surrounding.

Epidemic This is the unusual occurrence of a disease in excess of expectation in a specific population at a period of time.

Primary Stakeholders: People directly benefiting or affected by a particular activities.

Vector-borne disease: Organisms that spread diseases such as, person and animal.

Vehicle-borne: Agents that transmit infectious from one person to another.