Institutional Arrangements for Private Sector Involvement in Solid Waste Collection-a Case Study of Five Cities in Ghana
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Date
2009-08-18
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Abstract
The study focuses on the institutional arrangement of private sector involvement in solid waste collection in five cities in Ghana namely Accra, Kumasi, Tema, Sekondi- Takoradi and Tamale. The specific objectives of the research were to identify the institutional structure, roles and responsibilities of the actors involved in solid waste collection, to assess the legal arrangement for involving the private firms in solid waste collection, to assess the financial arrangements for involving the private firms in solid waste collection and to assess the regulatory framework for involving the private firms in solid waste collection. The research was based on twenty five (25) waste companies in Accra, Kumasi, Tema, Sekondi-Takoradi and Tamale (five largest cities) of Ghana. Data were collected from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Metropolitan/Municipal/District Assemblies private waste collection companies through administration of questionnaires and also semi- structured interviews with the heads of waste management departments and other key informants. The data collected was analysed and the bottlenecks of the existing legislation, contract, regulation and financial arrangements for involving private companies in solid waste collection were identified. The research revealed that there are institutional arrangements (Contractual, Financial and Regulatory) in place for the involvement of private sector in Solid Waste Collection. The companies operated under two main types of contract which are Franchise and Service contracts. The duration of the contract types awarded to companies are 2 years and 5y?ars for Franchise and Service contracts were respectively. The private companies involved in the solid waste collection are given the opportunity to renew and others undergo competitive bidding. Nineteen (19) companies receive subsidies from the Assembly for the house-to-house service and six (6) companies do not. Regulatory framework was assessed based regulation of quality of service, monitoring of companies compliance to regulations, quantity of waste collected, supervision by the Assemblies and Assemblies adherence to the regulations in the contracts signed with the companies. The conclusions drawn from the research were that the house-to-house service is better than the communal, duration for Franchise is 2years and Service is 5years but companies do not undergo competitive bidding when contract expires and assemblies are not able to pay companies on time and this leads to poor service delivery. Also Companies and Assemblies do not strictly adhere to contract obligations, laws on sanitation are available to sanction offenders but are not strictly enforced and user fees set are not reasonable to recover cost especially the medium to low class residential areas.
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A thesis submitted to College of Engineering, 2009