Access to privatized solid waste collection services by the urban poor in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

In addition to the challenges of rapid urbanization, local governments of Third World cities must address the global resurgence of market-oriented reforms. This thesis explores the effects of these reforms and the resulting transformed institutional and financial structures on urban services provision for the urban poor. It addresses the issues of access by the urban poor to privatized solid waste collection services, where private providers are in place and user charges are in effect.;Using the case of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, this study investigates the widely-held proposition that privatization of urban services can result in the exclusion of the poor in informal settlements. From a household perspective, this study examines the effects of the introduction of private provision of solid waste collection services on access by the urban poor. Recognizing the difficulties in isolating the urban poor within an urban set up and acknowledging the migration path undertaken by rural-urban migrants, the study adopted informal settlements to represent homes of the poor. Informal settlements are formed by uncontrolled urban development in unplanned areas, with little or no access of basic urban infrastructure. The urban poor are attracted to these settlements by the low rents and their social networks. Three informal settlements at different development stage were used as case studies: Keko Mwanga, an inner city highly saturated settlement; Hanna Nassif, a consolidated settlement within the intermediate zone and Mbagala Kongowe, a peripheral settlement.;The study conceptualizes access to service through three dimensions: entry, utilization, and satisfaction. Using a conceptual framework developed to guide the analysis of access to solid waste collection, the study established that privatization policy influences the urban poor access to solid waste collection in informal settlements. Households in informal settlements are noted to have limited access to privatized solid waste collection service. The structure of the private collection delivery (i.e. financing arrangements, collection schedule) was noted to be a barrier to the household access to privatized services. It emerged that the residents have more access to collection services provided by informal waste collectors, who are operating illegally.;The findings reveal a typical Third World policy adoption trend, where the context within which the policy is to be implemented is overlooked, prompting the communities to pursue options which suit their circumstances. Households in the informal settlements studied embraced informal waste collection instead of contracted private firms, because the former operation were oriented towards customer needs and have flexibility to incorporate diversity of the settlements. User fee charged by informal collectors could be paid in instalments, or services could be provided on credit; collection is available everyday and even the very inaccessible areas are reached by bicycles. As such households in informal settlements rely on informal collectors for services that are appropriate to their circumstances and local conditions.