Browsing by Author "Burger, Kees"

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    Informal waste collection and its co-existence with the formal waste sector: The case of Kampala, Uganda
    (Habitat International, 2013) Katusiimeh, Mesharch W.; Burger, Kees
    We analyze how the informal collectors and the formal sector co-exist in solid waste collection in Kampala. We rely on household surveys and a small survey among the informal collectors in Kampala. Findings suggest that informal collectors play a substantial role in the first stage e collecting solid waste from the households, notably from poorer segments of the population. This is not the ‘dualist’ aspect of poor earnings but actually made possible by them escaping control on where to deposit the waste. Employing a simple technology, and bringing the waste no farther than the nearest unofficial ‘collection point’, they provide services at low cost to the households, but much less so to the community (environmentally of little use). If public provisions can be made for the second stage in waste collection, this may trigger even more supply of small-scale collecting services, a combination that may prove cost effective.
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    The operations and effectiveness of public and private provision of solid waste collection services in Kampala
    (Habitat International, 2012) Katusiimeh, Mesharch W.; Mol, Arthur P.J.; Burger, Kees
    This paper compares the operations and discusses the effectiveness of public and private sector provision of solid waste collection in Kampala, Uganda. Household data suggest that the private sector is more effective than the public sector. Private sector companies provide services like container provision and providing timely and fixed collection time tables. Contrary to popular perception, fees charged by private companies are moderate. Public sector clients are charged fees even when the service is supposed to be free. Clients of private sector providers are more satisfied than those of public sector providers. It is however, revealed that while public sector serve mainly the low incomes, the private sector serves mainly the rich. In spite of these notable differences, clients of both public and private sector perceive the problem of solid waste management (SWM) in Kampala to be very serious. The effectiveness of public and private sector operations in solid waste collection in Kampala is hampered by corruption and lack of transparency. Given the situation of open competition for clients involving both public and private sector in Kampala, it is possible the public sector can operate effectively if they start commercial services officially like their private sector counterparts. This calls for a formal public-private partnership where the public and private sector can work together with the public sector dominating poor and marginalized areas while the private sector concentrates on rich neighborhoods.