An analysis of public perceptions of domestic solid waste management: The case of the make Zambia clean and healthy programme in Livingstone
Solid Waste Management (SWM) continues to be a major concern in Zambia. As such, the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ), through the Ministry of Local Government and Housing (MLGH) in 2004 instituted the Make Zambia Clean and Healthy (MZCH) campaign aimed, in part, at enhancing solid waste collection and disposal to designated dumpsites countrywide. Therefore, a survey on public perceptions of Domestic Solid Waste Management (DSWM) was, between the March and April, 2013, conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the MZCH campaign in the city of Livingstone. Three representative localities of the city, presumably of different socioeconomic status (with low, medium and high density households), were selected and surveyed. Although the study was largely quantitative, an eclectic approach was used to collect and analyse field data. A total of 202 respondents were successfully sampled through combined simple random and systematic methods. Coded data from the 202 respondents were entered into the SPSS version 16.0 to generate descriptive statistics, and application of Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). MANOVA results show that only two independent variables (monthly income and residence classification) reached statistical significant multivariate differences at p ≤ 0.05. For the monthly income variable, F (6, 376) = 3.55, p=0.002; Wilks’ Lambda (λ) = 0.89; partial eta squared = 0.054; and residence classification, F (6,392) = 2.09, p=0.05; Wilks’ Lambda (λ) = 0.94; partial eta squared = 0.031. This MANOVA result indicates firstly that the demographic factors do not influence public perceptions of the effectiveness of the DSWM system under the MZCH programme. Secondly, there were no major differences in public perceptions of the DSWM system among the different socioeconomic households of the city of Livingstone. Further, the results of this study suggest that the campaign was generally viewed as being ineffective, as local community members largely felt they did not participate in the decision making and implementation of the programme. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that the goals of the campaign were not in tandem with the local community’s preferred DSWM strategies. There is a need, therefore, to involve local community members in identifying future waste management solutions and to provide information to all concerned persons about practical aspects of waste management.
Refuse and Refuse Disposa-Livingstone, Zambia, Sewerage-Livingstone, Zambia, Solid waste management-Livingstone, Zambia
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