Assessment of public-private partnership for solid waste management in Wote town, Makueni county Kenya

Abstract

Wote is a town in Eastern Kenya, Makueni County . Wote serves as the headq uarter of Makueni County and has a population of 9,875. The town has been experiencing rapid population growth. An increase in solid waste is observed due to increase in urbanization, population density and inco me, changing food habits, taste and pattern. T his study aimed at providing an alternative solution to the existing Solid Waste Management (SWM) systems . The study set out to investigate how Public - Private Partnership ( PPP ) approach in SWM s ystem could be a pplied in Wote town by : (1) evaluating the operations, efficiency and effectiveness of the existing SWM systems in the Town, (2) establishing the roles and level of participation of all current stakeholders involved in SWM systems, (3) assessing PPP applic ation towards improved SWM in Wote Town. The research m ethodology included observation, photography, interview and administration of questionnaires to the town residents and key informants . Secondary data sources were also used. Data collected was coded an d entered into the computer for analysis using the Microsoft Excel and presented inform of charts, tables and graphs. Descriptive and inferential statistic al methods were used to draw conclusions for the study. Results revealed that a mean of 87.5 of the respondents were female while 12.5 were mal e, 50% of residents produced above 2Kgs of s oli d waste per day . This huge amount of solid waste is not matched by sufficient resources and capacities to manage waste in an effective and environmentally sound manne r since 90% of the residents indicated that they did not have access to the county waste collection services, the c ounty government had provided 45 waste bin s distributed in the town centre only , 57% of the residents indicated that waste generated was not collected for disposal, 40% indicated that collection is done on weekly basis , while only 3% had their waste being collected on daily basis, 85% of the residents dispose their waste directly in the pits and burning. The study revealed that stakeholders inv olved are few and limited. The alliances between th em are completely weak and this has led to the poor SWM systems in the town . T he ir roles and responsibilities are not clearly defined. Conclusions draw n from the study indicates that the SWM systems in the town were unsatisfactory from the environmental, economic and financial points of view. The study recommends SWM stakeholders venture into PPP approach for improved services.