An assessment of compliance with City Council by-laws : Governing solid waste management among Glenview vendors

Abstract

Solid waste management is a global problem which is affecting most nations and local authorities. Globalisation and urbanization are the main causes of the all the solid waste problems affecting the world. Population growth caused by rural to urban migration is putting dire strain on the city’s service providers. Zimbabwe has its fair share of solid waste problems as the service provision has declined tremendously. The situation has been worsened by the growth of street trading in urban centres of the nation. Whilst local authorities are struggling with solid waste management there is need for those managed to comply with given regulation to reduce the effects of solid waste on the environment. Global discourses on the environment push forward the ideas that people should be accountable for the environment they live in and this study focusing on this idea seeks to assess how and why non-compliance is widespread among street vendors in most local authorities. Compliance with city council by-laws is fundamental in upholding sustainable city environments. Theories have been put forward to explain compliance and they focus on sociological, psychological, economic and management factors. This study looked in greater detail at the determinants of compliance. Data collection was done using questionnaires which was a cross cutting tool addressing the attitudes and perceptions of street vendors, the major causes of compliance and an assessment of individual contentment with the state of the environment. Key informant interviews clarified the data and observations were done in the streets where vendors operate from. The findings of the study indicate that most people have no problems with the two by-laws examined but however they expressed dissatisfaction with the type of service provided by the city fathers. They expressed that there was lack of participation, no enforcement of the by-laws, no monitoring among others.

The major causes of compliance or non-compliance behaviour which emanated from the findings are lack of capacity to comply, social pressure, desire for economic gain and management issues. The study also revealed that the street vendors were not content with the state of their environment.