Constraints for Solid Waste Management in Somaliland
Many foreign scholars have researched and studied on many aspects of Somaliland’s development as well as it’s shortcomings, highlighting what is lacking, what is working well, and ways to improve some of them. Such readily available researches would save the nation a great deal of time and money to have been spent while leading to a rapid development. But unfortunately, the Somaliland leadership either does not know much about its existence or sees it as merely a literature insignificant to the country’s development.
One of those researches authored by Veronica Di Bella,and Mentore Vaccari – in 2014 – deals with the
Knowledge about appropriate technology for solid waste management in low-income countries is usually poor. The solutions proposed are often a mere copy of technical devices adopted in developed countries and they are not selected on the basis of the actual context of where they are going to be used. This leads to unsuccessful projects, whose causes and effects on the population and the environment are seldom discussed in the scientific literature
The authors intends to contribute to filling that gap through detailed analysis of the difficulties and challenges encountered for the improvement of waste collection, recycling and disposal in five of the main cities in Somaliland
This analysis of waste collection, recycling and disposal in Somaliland showed that there are common constraints in all three phases of waste management. These include:
- Lack of machinery and technology
- Problems with operation of the facilities
- Lack of knowledge and awareness
- Difficulties in collaboration with local stakeholders
- Lack of supervision by the controlling institutions
- Issues of land ownership and availability
- Lack of specific policies
These constraints, which weaken the effectiveness of the technological solutions adopted, are due not only to reasons that depend specifically on the local context but also to technical, educational and institutional issues present in other numerous developing countries.
Different solutions can be adopted to address these causes and limit the constraints deriving from them. Technical issues can be solved by adopting technologies that are appropriate in the context and suit the local technical skills available. Educational issues can be faced by the development of a proper educational system, encouraging the return of highly skilled emigrates, and placing great importance on the promotion of awareness campaigns and projects of cooperation in the field of education.
Educational issues should be primarily addressed because technical skills and awareness in the local population are necessary for successful implementation of every project in the field of solid waste management. Institutional problems could be limited by greater local authority involvement in all phases of a project and by better control, by donors, of the use of funds given to international development projects. Local authorities also need to be moved to promulgate specific environmental laws and policies. The strong involvement of local authorities can be achieved only by solving the issues linked to contradictions currently present in the system of international cooperation. Projects of international cooperation should emerge from concrete needs, not from predefined funding lines, and local stakeholders should be involved in the planning stages of a project.
Constraints identified for waste collection
- Theft of some valuable materials (e.g. metallic gates)
- Technical problems in loading and unloading waste
- Irregularity of the collection service
- Presence of healthcare waste inside the collection points
- Lack of technical skills for the construction of the collection points
- Lack of awareness among the local population about the risks and impacts associated with incorrect management of waste
- Lack of control by local authorities over waste collection activities
- Issues for ownership and availability of land
Constraints identified for waste recycling
- Unavailability of raw materials
- Slow manual production of fuel briquettes
- Briquette drying time
- Mechanical devices for briquetting not available
- Unavailability of improved stoves
- Unsuitability of complicated plants for plastic recycling
- Lack of technical skills for building and operating technologically complex plants
- Disinterest towards waste recycling by local businessmen
- Production of smoke while using fuel briquettes
- Absence of a market for recyclables
- Lack of specific policies about recycling
Constraints identified for waste disposal
- Lack of means to correctly build sanitary landfills
- Unserviceable vehicles owned by the municipalities
- Incorrect practices of waste landfilling
- Lack of adequate technical skills during landfill construction
- Ambiguous behavior of some authorities
- Issues for ownership and availability of land
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