CHALLENGES CONFRONTING LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF DANGAMVURA RESIDENTIAL AREA, MUTARE, ZIMBABWE

Abstract

Solid waste management has become one of the major challenges in both public circles and environmental health at the global level. The extent of the problems being faced as a result of improper solid waste management cannot be understated for example the illegal dumping and burning of municipal waste has become a common phenomenon in most Zimbabwean towns and cities. Studies regarding solid waste management have been widely researched by various scholars across the globe. In Zimbabwe, studies regarding solid waste management have been studied by scholars like Mlaudzi (2017) and Mutsvanga, et al. (2018) among others. Most of the studies focus on major urban centres and lack much information on residential areas. This study focuses on the challenges faced by local authorities in solid waste management in Dangamvura, Mutare. The main objectives of the study include: exploring the challenges being faced by the city of Mutare in solid waste management within the Dangamvura residential area, determining how these challenges are affecting the community and assessing the strategies and policies adopted by the city council to address these challenges. The researcher employed the mixed method of data collection and 60 participants took part in the research. The key informants were drawn from the city of Mutare. The main challenges which were being faced by the council in solid waste management in Dangamvura included poor community engagement, understaffing, urban sprawl, political interference, shortage of resources and natural hazards. These challenges affected the residents in a number of ways which included: disease outbreaks through water contamination, loss of natural beauty of the area and inconsistency in refuse collection. Various efforts were made to improve the state of service delivery in Dangamvura which included environmental education, law enforcement, motorizing cleansing, purchasing new refuse trucks and provisions of bins. The recommendations that have been provided include depoliticizing the issue among others that have been listed at the end of this study.  Article visualizations: