Human waste management in selected prisons in Rwanda
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Date
2011-08
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Publisher
Kampala International University, School of Natural and Applied Science
Abstract
Human waste disposal has become a daunting task for the prisons’ authorities in Rwanda who seem to lack the capacity to tackle the mounting human waste situation due to the high prison population density. This study was carried out to analyze and understand the situation of human waste management in selected prisons of Kimironko and Muhanga. The main objectives of the study were: to establish the status of human waste management in prisons, investigate health effects related to improper human waste management and establish ways employed to improve human waste disposal in selected prisons. For the empirical study, a mixed materials and methods were used which combined questionnaires, interviews of all people involved in human waste management in selected prisons, together with observations, photographs, and review of related literature to examine the issue of human waste management in selected prisons. The key issues identified by the study include: that the selected prisons are experiencing the poor human waste management because of the prisons overcrowded and small number of disposal systems present in the selected prisons (toilets, latrines). That while, a number of infectious diseases (diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, dysentery) and environmental nuisances (drinking water pollution, food chain contamination, air and soil pollution), associated to that problem have been identified. Based on these findings, it has been observed that the solution to the issue of human waste management problem in selected prisons lies in the prioritization of implementing biogas plants, but also in human waste compost that need more research before it should be adopted.
Description
A thesis presented to the School of Postgraduate Studies and Research, Kampala International University Kampala, Uganda in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science in Environmental Management and Development
Keywords
Human Waste management, Prisons, Rwanda