HEALTH IMPLICATIONS OF INEFFECTIVE SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL FOR URBAN RESIDENTS

A STUDY OF AWKA TOWN, ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

The phenomenal rate of urbanization in Nigerian cities has led to a number of environmental problems including solid waste disposal. Improper solid waste disposal has significant impact on the health of our urban populace. The researcher adopted the survey design and sourced data by means of structured questionnaires and in-depth interview. The sample size was five hundred and seventy six (576) respondents. Data was analyzed with statistical tools especially, tables, frequency distribution and percentages. The findings revealed that poor solid waste disposal in Awka have a lot of health implications ranging from diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, asthma, bronchitis and many others. The study further discovered that several factors militate against effective waste disposal in Awka. The salient ones are rapid population growth, poor solid waste disposal culture, shortage of waste disposal personnel, inadequate resources for waste clearing and disposal and high rate of illiteracy. It was recommended among others that there should be public enlightenment campaign as well as introduction of environmental education at all levels of our educational system. This will help to alter the attitude and value system towards environmental management by making the people to be sanitation conscious. Government should strive to allocate adequate funds, and equipment for waste management and at same time help in legislating and penalizing against indiscriminate disposal of waste.