Assessment of Institutional Structures for Solid Waste Management in Ghana
Research Questions/Statement of the Problem
Solid waste management is considered as an important aspect in any country, particularly due to the growing awareness and focus of the public towards the environment. With this, government, local and national are focusing on improving its solid waste management in order to improve the quality of life of the people. The proposed research is designed in order to answer the following:
1. What is the overall organizational structure, and how functions are distributed among them in Ghana in terms of Solid Waste Management?
2. How does the development of waste management department staff are done?
3. What are the roles and responsibilities played the private sector?
Background of the Study
Most of the human activities create waste, and it is the manner this waste is handled, stored, collected and disposed of, that can create risks and threats towards the environment and health of the entire public (Zhu et al, 2008). There are different sources of solid waste, which include the mishandling of waste by households and the private or business sector.
Different studies showed that the capabilities and strength of the overall structure of the institution is a vital factor which help to maintain the development in water and sanitation, and, for that matter, solid waste management (Antipolis, 2000; World Bank, 2000; DFID, 1998). According to Antipolis (2000) a correlation exists between the instituational and financial sustainability of solid waste management on one hand performance on the othr hand. He added that “a low level material capacity combined with a shortage of skilled staff and training leads to inefficient performance.” This is supported by the World Bank (2000), which stated that “an acceptable level of service for waste management depends critically on well planned management, operating within an enabling institutional framework, and capable of generating the financial resources required to meet operating, maintenance and investment cost.”
Conceptual and Theoritical Framework
This study will mainly focus on the different institutional reform that have been implemented in Ghana regarding solid waste management. Thus, it will focus on the different information related to solid waste management. Thus, it will also focus on information related to the institution and institutional structure as well as the relationship between institutional structures and the efficiency of solid waste management.
In this research, data will be collected from the different entities involved in the solid waste management, which include the local authorities, the government agency or department, non-government environmental agencies, together with the private sector or those businesses who are the common sources of the different solid waste in the country.
Significance of the Study
This study will be important because it can help in order to explore the different background information regarding the current implementation and procedures involved in solid waste management in Ghana, thus it will be able to help the researcher to present different reports, results and findings that will be able to show the current condition and situation of the different entities that are connected with the said subject. Thus, it will be able to show what are the different aspects of solid waste management in Ghana that can be improved or enhanced, at the same time, add up some important standards and policies which can help in order to improve the current solid waste management in the country.
Scope and Limitations
This research will be mainly focus on the case of Ghana, therefore, information and data to be gathered, together with the results of the study will be limited in the case. On the other hand, the time to be spent in the research can also affect the overall results and findings of the study, because of the limitations and the disadvantages of the methods to be used in this study. In addition, this study will be an exploratory, therefore, it will just provide background knowledge or will produce a founding information, which can be used in the future research for in-depth analysis and evaluation.
References
Antipolis, S 2000, Policy and instituational assessment of solid waste management in five countries: Cyprus, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Tunisia, Blue Plan Regional Activity Centre, Valbonne.
DFID 1998, Guidance manual on water supply and sanitation programmes, Department for International Development, London.
World Bank 2000, Strategic planning for municipal solid waste management, World Bank, Washington, DC.
Zhu, D, Asnani, P U, Zurbrugg, C, Anapolsky, S and Mani, S 2008, Improving solid waste management in India: A sourcebook for policy makers and practitioners. The World Bank, Washington, DC.
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