Urban and Regional Planning

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Indiscriminate Waste Disposal and Health Hazards in Mamfe, Cameroon

Received: Feb. 23, 2020    Accepted: Mar. 10, 2020    Published: Mar. 23, 2020
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Abstract

Indiscriminate waste disposal constitute a major deficiency to most Cameroonian cities nowadays. Unorthodox dumping of waste in Mamfe has triggered urban disorder and nuisance in the town. It is in furtherance to this that, this article seeks to address the health hazards accrued from poor waste management in Mamfe. The article advances that the inadequacy of waste disposal equipment coupled with no sustainable policy of management and mentality of the city dwellers have incited the incidence of diseases. Some 150 questionnaires were administered to households in the Mamfe neighbourhood to determine the impact of poor waste disposal to the town. The Spear Rho Rank Order Correlation was used to test the effect of solid waste on the sanitary health of the Mamfe community. Further field survey through observation was done to capture images of poor waste disposal. These varied methods were used to generate data for results and analyses. Results from findings adhere to the fact that the Mamfe community generates 70.59% of biodegradable waste, 25.32% of non-biodegradable and 4.09% of inert materials. A correlation index analysis of the effect of solid waste on sanitary health of the community stood at R = 0.9976 indicating a very strong relationship between waste and sanitary diseases in Mamfe. The poor implementation of waste disposal policies has led to unstable and excessive dumping of waste in the town. Much waste was generated in less privileged neighbourhoods than the privileged ones due to settlement in the unplanned areas of Lala, Banya, Satum and Egbekaw in the expansion process of the town. This paper advocates that, community based organs and NGOs be used to establish a waste management system in Mamfe. Waste education through El-Hager’s 4Rs concept of reduce, reuse, recycle and recovery be put in place to render the Mamfe town sustainable for living.

DOI 10.11648/j.urp.20200501.14
Published in Urban and Regional Planning ( Volume 5, Issue 1, March 2020 )
Page(s) 25-31
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Waste Disposal, Health Hazards, Management Policy, Community Based Organs, 4Rs Concept, Mamfe

References
[1] Achankeng, E. (2003). Globalization, Urbanization and Municipal Solid Waste Management in Africa. Agency, Bristol. 425p.
[2] Olu Sule, R. (2007). Urban Planning and Environmental Health Criticality. Thumbprints, London. 412p.
[3] BUCREP. (2005). Third population and housing census results of Cameroon, 647p.
[4] Ndi, H. N and Tungla, G. V. (2011). The Prospects for Mutual Health Organisations in the North West Region of Cameroon: The case of the Kumbo Mutual Health Organisation. African Journal of Social Sciences, Vol 2 (3): 19-34.
[5] Nguendo Yongsi, H. B. (2010). Education and religious beliefs: supportive determinants in the understanding of health issues in Sub-Saharan Africa, studies on Ethno-Medicine, 4 (2): 81-94.
[6] World Health Organisation. (2014). Health in 2015: From MDGs to SDGs. Geneva, 204p.
[7] Meade, M and Earicksn, R. J. (2005). Medical Geography, 2nd Edition, New York: Gulford Press, 312 p.
[8] Oloyo, R. (2001). Fundamentals of Research and Methodology for Social and Applied Sciences ROA Educational Press, Aloro Nigeria. 305p.
[9] Takor-Ojong. (2012). Community-Based Organizations: Types, Potentials, and Constraints in the Northern Part of the Korup National Park. 137p.
[10] El-Hagar, S. M. (2007). Sustainable industrial design and waste management: Cradle-to-cradle for sustainable Development, Oxford: Elsevier/Academic Press. 424p.
[11] Dongquing, Z., Tan, S., Gersberg, R. (2010). A comparison of municipal solid waste management in Berlin and Singapore. Integrated Waste Management, 130p.
[12] Parrot, L., Sotamenou, J., Kamgnia and Dia, B. (2009). Municipal solid waste management in Africa: strategies and livelihoods in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Waste Management, USA. pp: 286-295.
[13] Yetunde, A. (2013). Sustainability of Municipal Solid Waste Management in Nigeria: A Case Study of Lagos. Water and Environmental Studies, Department of Thematic Studies, Linköping University, 124p.
[14] Nga, A. M. (2008). Mise En Evidence Des Facteurs De Distribution Des Maladies Infectieuses A Partir Du Case De L’Épidémie Du Choléra Dans Le District De Sante D’Obala. Pp 130-140.
[15] Bartone, C. (2000). Strategies for Improving Municipal Solid Waste Management: Lessons from World Bank Lending and CWG Activities. Workshop on Planning for Sustainable and Integrated Solid Waste Management, Manila, Urban Management Division, World Bank. 285p.
[16] Gladding, T. L. and Coggins, P. C. (2007). Exposure to microorganisms and health effects of working in UK materials recovery facilities – a preliminary report. Ann Agric Environ Med, 141p.
[17] Williams, P. T. (2005). Waste treatment and disposal. 2nd ed. John Wiley & sons Ltdwest Sussex England. World Bank Infrastructure Notes, Urban No. UE-12.87p.
[18] Twardowska, I. (2004). Solid Waste: Assessment, Monitoring and Remediation. Waste Management Series, Volume 4, 2004. pp 3–32.
[19] Dickerson, G. W. (1999). Solid Waste: Trash to Treasury in an Urban Environment. 174p.
[20] Ndi, H. N and Nguendo Yongsi, H. B. (2018). Introduction to Health Geography. The Book Guild Ltd, Great Britain, 1st Edition, 215p.
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  • APA Style

    Tende Renz Tichafogwe, Ashu-agboko Franklin Etchi. (2020). Indiscriminate Waste Disposal and Health Hazards in Mamfe, Cameroon. Urban and Regional Planning, 5(1), 25-31. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20200501.14

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    ACS Style

    Tende Renz Tichafogwe; Ashu-agboko Franklin Etchi. Indiscriminate Waste Disposal and Health Hazards in Mamfe, Cameroon. Urban Reg. Plan. 2020, 5(1), 25-31. doi: 10.11648/j.urp.20200501.14

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    AMA Style

    Tende Renz Tichafogwe, Ashu-agboko Franklin Etchi. Indiscriminate Waste Disposal and Health Hazards in Mamfe, Cameroon. Urban Reg Plan. 2020;5(1):25-31. doi: 10.11648/j.urp.20200501.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.urp.20200501.14,
      author = {Tende Renz Tichafogwe and Ashu-agboko Franklin Etchi},
      title = {Indiscriminate Waste Disposal and Health Hazards in Mamfe, Cameroon},
      journal = {Urban and Regional Planning},
      volume = {5},
      number = {1},
      pages = {25-31},
      doi = {10.11648/j.urp.20200501.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20200501.14},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.urp.20200501.14},
      abstract = {Indiscriminate waste disposal constitute a major deficiency to most Cameroonian cities nowadays. Unorthodox dumping of waste in Mamfe has triggered urban disorder and nuisance in the town. It is in furtherance to this that, this article seeks to address the health hazards accrued from poor waste management in Mamfe. The article advances that the inadequacy of waste disposal equipment coupled with no sustainable policy of management and mentality of the city dwellers have incited the incidence of diseases. Some 150 questionnaires were administered to households in the Mamfe neighbourhood to determine the impact of poor waste disposal to the town. The Spear Rho Rank Order Correlation was used to test the effect of solid waste on the sanitary health of the Mamfe community. Further field survey through observation was done to capture images of poor waste disposal. These varied methods were used to generate data for results and analyses. Results from findings adhere to the fact that the Mamfe community generates 70.59% of biodegradable waste, 25.32% of non-biodegradable and 4.09% of inert materials. A correlation index analysis of the effect of solid waste on sanitary health of the community stood at R = 0.9976 indicating a very strong relationship between waste and sanitary diseases in Mamfe. The poor implementation of waste disposal policies has led to unstable and excessive dumping of waste in the town. Much waste was generated in less privileged neighbourhoods than the privileged ones due to settlement in the unplanned areas of Lala, Banya, Satum and Egbekaw in the expansion process of the town. This paper advocates that, community based organs and NGOs be used to establish a waste management system in Mamfe. Waste education through El-Hager’s 4Rs concept of reduce, reuse, recycle and recovery be put in place to render the Mamfe town sustainable for living.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Indiscriminate Waste Disposal and Health Hazards in Mamfe, Cameroon
    AU  - Tende Renz Tichafogwe
    AU  - Ashu-agboko Franklin Etchi
    Y1  - 2020/03/23
    PY  - 2020
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20200501.14
    DO  - 10.11648/j.urp.20200501.14
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    JF  - Urban and Regional Planning
    JO  - Urban and Regional Planning
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    EP  - 31
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-1697
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20200501.14
    AB  - Indiscriminate waste disposal constitute a major deficiency to most Cameroonian cities nowadays. Unorthodox dumping of waste in Mamfe has triggered urban disorder and nuisance in the town. It is in furtherance to this that, this article seeks to address the health hazards accrued from poor waste management in Mamfe. The article advances that the inadequacy of waste disposal equipment coupled with no sustainable policy of management and mentality of the city dwellers have incited the incidence of diseases. Some 150 questionnaires were administered to households in the Mamfe neighbourhood to determine the impact of poor waste disposal to the town. The Spear Rho Rank Order Correlation was used to test the effect of solid waste on the sanitary health of the Mamfe community. Further field survey through observation was done to capture images of poor waste disposal. These varied methods were used to generate data for results and analyses. Results from findings adhere to the fact that the Mamfe community generates 70.59% of biodegradable waste, 25.32% of non-biodegradable and 4.09% of inert materials. A correlation index analysis of the effect of solid waste on sanitary health of the community stood at R = 0.9976 indicating a very strong relationship between waste and sanitary diseases in Mamfe. The poor implementation of waste disposal policies has led to unstable and excessive dumping of waste in the town. Much waste was generated in less privileged neighbourhoods than the privileged ones due to settlement in the unplanned areas of Lala, Banya, Satum and Egbekaw in the expansion process of the town. This paper advocates that, community based organs and NGOs be used to establish a waste management system in Mamfe. Waste education through El-Hager’s 4Rs concept of reduce, reuse, recycle and recovery be put in place to render the Mamfe town sustainable for living.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, Letters and Social Sciences, the University of Yaounde 1, Yaounde, Cameroon

  • Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, Letters and Social Sciences, the University of Yaounde 1, Yaounde, Cameroon

  • Section