Dumpsite Contestations and Urban Sanitation in Accra, Ghana.

Abstract

Ghana, like many developing nations is in sanitation crisis which started around the early 1970s. The crisis is compounded by a lack of the enforcement of sanitation bye-laws, uncontrolled population growth and rural-urban migration, poor human settlement planning and uncoordinated urbanization and industrialization policies, among others. To worsen these systemic deficiencies, unconventional waste management practices have pitted dumpsite communities against public and private waste managers. In many instances confrontations have undermined the peace in local communities and constrained the effort of urban waste management authorities to promote sanitation in the urban areas. Employing Darhrendorf’s conflict and Beck’s risk theory as explanatory models, this study seeks to examine the contestations that the siting of dumpsites generates within and among stakeholders: communities, district and metropolitan assemblies and waste management companies. In more specific terms, the study focused on community attitude towards dumpsites and the perceived health and environmental consequences generated by dumpsite; the contestations generated by the factors taken into consideration by state agencies in the mode of land acquisition for use as a dumpsite and the disputes over the quantum of compensation paid to land owners. To address all these objectives, a mixed method approach was used to collect qualitative and quantitative data. Quantitative data were collected from 1,200 respondents while for the collection of qualitative data, 45 key informants were engaged in in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. These approaches were reinforced with systematic observation in the field. The major findings of the study are that: Most residents of dumpsite-affected communities called for the relocation of the dumpsites; Siting of dumpsites generates contestations within and without communities: within communities, contestations occur between waste management companies and community residents; between local youth, traditional authorities and waste management companies. Siting of dumpsites also leads to disputes among district assemblies over jurisdictional rights and the sharing of income generated from dumpsites. Community contestations manifest in violent and non-violent forms: demonstrations, blocking of roads leading to dumpsites, press conferences and appealing to higher authorities, among others. The basis of community agitations includes perceived health hazards; foul odour; unfulfilled promises by waste management companies and security concerns. In all the studied communities, the lands used for the dumpsites were not properly acquired through the processes laid down by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Land Valuation Board.

Following from these findings, the following recommendations are made: Government should facilitate the establishment of a facility with responsibility to recycle and compost urban waste. This will reduce considerably the demand for more urban land for waste disposal and enhance urban sanitation.

There is the need for proper mode of land acquisition and for prompt payment of agreed compensation by state agencies. Town and Country Planning Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should be strengthened by government to ensure compliance with planning and environmental regulations. The EPA and urban environmental authorities must ensure that waste management companies regularly treat waste at dumpsites to reduce the nuisance caused to nearby settlements. In this regard, it is suggested that policies on landfill must be strengthened