Sanitary Practices Adopted by Traders in Ogige Market in Nsukka Urban, Enugu State

Abstract

Good sanitary practice is a key to public intervention for improvement of health and wellbeing of any individual and society at large. The purpose of this study was to determine the sanitary practices of traders in Ogige market Nsukka. Two specific objectives with two corresponding research questions and two null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The descriptive cross-sectional survey research design was used for the study. The instrument for data collection was a researcher designed sanitary practices questionnaire (SPQ). The population for the study consisted of all traders in Ogige market Nsukka which totalled about 3500. The sample for the study consisted of three hundred and fifty traders. Frequencies and percentages were used to answer the research questions while chi-square statistic was used to test the null hypotheses. The result of the study showed that only (35.2%) of the traders used buckets with lids to collect wastes in their different shops. the result also revealed that only (3.4%) of traders disposed of their collected wastes daily while (79.5%) dumped the collected waste in the ESWAMA bin. More than half of the respondents (51.0%) believed that the lack of dumpsites was a factor that affected sanitation practices. There was no significant difference in the method of refuse collection and in the place of dumping refuse based on gender. (p > .05). It was therefore recommended that there is need for the sanitation unit to have supervisors who should be in charge of the various blocks of shops who will ensure that every trader has a bucket with lid for refuse collection. The local market authority should provide litter bins at end of every block of shops so that traders can empty their refuse daily before they are finally emptied at the dumpsite. This will reduce indiscriminate dumping of refuse in gutters or drains.