The Impact Of Improper Solid Waste Management In Kahama Township Authority, Kaiiama District Tanzania

ABSTRACT

As urbanization continuous to grow rapidly, the management of solid wastes is becoming a major public health arid environmental concern in urban areas of many developing countries. People in Kahama Township generate solid wastes, and the way it is handled is not proper. It is on the view of the fact mentioned above, that this research was undertaken to investigate the impact of improper solid waste management on the community of Kahama Township. The researcher examined this by using the following objectives; to find out the existing situation of solid waste management system, identify deficiencies in solid waste management sector, Determine the health and economic impact due to improper solid waste handling and to identify the key stakeholders involved in sold waste management. The research study was cross-sectional which applied both quantitative and qualitative methods of collection of information. The households were the study units and 12 extension workers (officers) were interviewed at their work places. The required sample size was 804 households, representing 5 percent of the total 16,073 households in the study area. These were sampled using stratified random technique and purposive for the key respondents. The study revealed that, the current problems on the community of Kahama Township; had no standard storage and collection facilities of solid waste (76 percent) prior to pick up for disposal, while 24 percent had central refuse collection facilities. These conditions pose risks on public health and the environment, because the garbage and trash blowing about on the streets ends up blocking drainage systems, polluting sources of water and they cause air borne contaminants. As a result, almost all respondents (84 percent) reported at least one member of the family to have suffered from malaria, diarrhoea and typhoid diseases. The biggest proportion of the cases was children under 5 years of age (64 percent). With this, I concluded that, KTA should consider giving first priority to SWM by providing central refuse collection facilities closer to the generating sources and adequate transportation to the final disposal site, and recommended that, close supervision and monitoring should be done from all levels of the government agency by involving the community which would enable the KTA to carry out solid waste management in an environmentally sustainable manner.