This study was conducted in the Bawku Municipality of the Upper East, Ghana, with the view to assessing the factors that impede the management of solid waste. Questionnaires were submitted to 150 randomly selected households, while face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with the municipal Waste Management Department and a private waste management company, Zoomlion Ghana Ltd. Data collected included components of solid waste generated, waste collection, transportation and final disposal methods, the challenges confronting waste management institutions, and respondents᾽ knowledge and perceptions of the waste management system and their attitudes towards it. Components of wastes generated were organic waste, paper waste and plastics. Factors that adversely affected waste collection and transportation systems were the inadequate supply of waste collection containers, the existence of a weak waste transportation system and a low patronage of the door˗to˗door collection method. The study showed that the municipal landfill did not meet the required standard. The results also revealed the lack of public awareness on issues regarding waste and lack of a participatory approach that makes the people an active stakeholder in the waste management system. This situation accounted for indiscriminate disposals of waste by most respondents who viewed the issue of waste management as the exclusive responsibility of the local government. The study further showed that the waste management institutions were faced with financial difficulties, understaffing and poor logistics and nature of roads, and social constraints. The study therefore suggests the development of a strategic plan for efficient waste management which revolves around these findings.
Management of domestic solid waste is one of the challenges facing many metropolitan municipal and district Assemblies in Ghana because uncollected and improperly disposed waste results in the clogging of most public areas, streets, and gutters and has a grave implications on health. In the Bolgatanga municipality, as a result of increasing urban population, a high consumption and disposal lifestyle that has no need for reuse, negative attitude by individuals and households in the handling of waste and the inadequate financial and logistical requirements on the part of the local authorities to combat this menace has had a negative impact on waste management in the municipality. This research conducts a social survey in five (5) major settlements in the municipality namely; Bolgatanga town, Zuarungu, Yikene, Sumburungu and Tindonsobligo to ascertain attitudes in waste management, perceptions on the value and reuse of waste and the management of waste at the household and local levels. Also we determined the rates and trend in increase of population and waste levels for the municipality at a four (4) year interval for the years; 1993, 1997, 2001, 2005, and 2009 and measure the strength of association using Pearson's Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. The study revealed that the most predominant waste disposal is the communal disposal at sites normally not approved in the peri-urban communities. This is followed by the door-to-door services which was prevalent in the urban residential areas. Despite the dominant nature of communal skips and door-to-door services mostly in the Bolgatanga community, inhabitants still practice improper disposal from disposal in nearby bush to open dumps due to lack of enforcement of regulatory policies and programmes irrespective of income levels. These problems are compounded by inadequate proper storage receptacles, unavailability of community storage receptacles and the long distance of travel for disposal of household waste which discourages dumping at common and approved sites. For the period under consideration (1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009), the population for the municipality increased from 188,690 to 295,333 representing an increase of 36%, while waste generated increased from 46,015 to 101, 823 tons, an increase by 55% which results in an average per capita waste generation (kg/person/daily) of 0.70 kilogrammes for the period under consideration. The Pearson's Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (r) between population and waste generated in the municipality revealed a high and a strong association of 0.88 which confirms the distribution of communal skips by the municipal assembly with concentration in high population urban zones within the Bolgatanga town.
Landcover change is an observed natural change dynamics at both the local and regional levels. However, its scales are exacerbated by human interaction with its natural environment. The study examines these spatio-temporal changes in landcover and the level to which the change is accompanied by fragmentation of the identifiable cover types in the Talensi and Nabdam districts in Northern Ghana. The research uses digital classification of Landsat satellite imagery for 1999 and 2007 to produce the cover types which results in good accuracy levels of 66.39% and 63.03% respectively. Fragmentation analysis of the landscape was computed using FRAGSTATS® software for categorical maps obtained from the classified landcover maps for the two years. All cover types increased marginally. However, Bare areas decreased by as much as 17.17% and that of water decreased from 3% to 1%. The changing landscape involving conversions within and among various cover types is accompanied by fragmentation in all classes but more pronounced in the Bare class. The Bare class type which has more patches corresponds to the class with increased cover size and rather strangely decreases in the mean path size.
The aim of this study was to assess the levels of some physico-chemical and microbial water quality parameters in fifteen hand-dug wells in Bolgatanga of the Upper East region of Ghana. The effects of seasonal variation and proximity to pollution sources on the concentrations of some parameters of the well water samples were analysed. The results revealed that, total and faecal coliforms in all fifteen samples exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended thresholds for potable water in the dry season. Total coliform, faecal coliform, pH, conductivity, and turbidity, total dissolved solid and total hardness increased in concentration during the rainy season, pointing to infiltrations from storm water. Effect of distance from pollution sources was also pronounced on faecal and total coliform counts, which decreased with increasing distance from pollution sources. It is recommended that these wells be disinfected before use.
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