Assessment of Waste Management Practices and Sanitation Services at the District Level— Case Study in the Prestea-Hunivalley Mining Communities of Ghana

Abstract

One of the major waste management and sanitation challenges facing developing countries is achieving the universal goals of replacing unacceptable disposal practices (such as open dumping and burning at unsafe sites) with internationally acceptable methods (such as engineered landfilling and recycling) and climbing up on the waste management ladder for improvement. A number of intervention efforts towards achieving this have not yielded the needed results at the local levels and these have been attributed to sustainability problems regarding funding, technological and political support. However, prevailing local conditions can have significant influence on success or otherwise of intervention efforts and methods. There is therefore the need to periodically assess prevailing local conditions against intervention efforts and methods to ascertain modifications that may be necessary to help achieve intended objectives. This paper discusses the methods and results of an example of such assessment and the lessons that can be learnt from it, using a case study approach at the mining areas of Prestea-Hinivalley Municipality of Ghana. Field surveying and mapping, interviews, and documentary analysis were employed to gather relevant data for the study. The data was processed and analysed using GIS, statistics and graphs to provide sanitation maps and other useful information on the distribution of dumping sites, waste collection and disposal, environmental sanitation conditions and services, and how these influence interventions efforts in the area. Difficulties in land acquisition and tenure security, uneven distribution of waste disposal facilities and services, unreliable support from city authorities, local opposition towards landfill siting and crude disposal practices are among the major factors influencing waste management efforts in the area. The paper recommends that the effects such local factors on intervention efforts should be assessed to ascertain necessary modifications prior to or during their implementation, using spatial-based methods as demonstrated in this study.