Challenges of Urban ...

Challenges of Urban Sanitation

I will like to state here that urban Sanitation is a bit more complicated and capital intensive than the rural sanitation we have been promoting. Perhaps the reason why the urban sanitation situation has become so deplorable is the fact that it has been ignored over time and emphasis seem to be on the rural sector. My comment however will be restricted to the Nigerian experience.

Urban Sanitation involves both solid and liquid waste disposal as well as environmental sanitation; these three in the context of the urban setting are capital intensive and government officials often time play a lot of pranks and politics with this system which is primarily responsible for the gross ineffectiveness that is predorminant in this sector.

But the greatest challenge with sanitation generally lies in the attitude of the people, that is why a change programme has to written for it and adhered to strictly. In urban slums for example, you find people still defecating in the open, refuse being dropped carelessly in drains and so many other environmental hazards like sound pollution. For those residing in decent areas with modern sanitation facilities, the challenge sometime lie in inadequate water supply to take care of WC latrine and other household sanitation practices.

To ameliorate this situation, Government will have to live up to their moral obligation and the inhabitants too will have to realize the importance of sanitation and be ready to participate in the process as the government alone cannot do all of that.