Many interventions were sought in the past to address the human health and aquatic life implications associated with poor Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) practices. Majority of such interventions failed to recognise that such human health risks and threats to aquatic life are to a large extent moderated by unique characteristics of different urban and rural spaces where such waste is generated. They failed to employ multiple criteria-based evaluation models that are appropriate in depicting the complex and often interrelated criteria inherently associated with MSWM. This study used the Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) to evaluate several interdependent variables that define human health and aquatic life hazards associated with poor MSWM practices. Specifically, HCA was used to identify relative similarities among, and distances between a sample of 26 Ethiopian cities and towns in terms of MSWM health threats. Results indicated that threats to human health and aquatic life are surmountable for cities whose economies are relatively low and lacking capacity in terms of SWM infrastructure, acceptable institutional arrangements and better health-care facilities to deal with associated SWM-induced human health risks. Risk of flood waters owing to low altitude has also compounded the urban health conditions in such cities. Despite being better positioned, the analysis observed that some bigger cities still face problems in terms of effective land use planning policies, commitment towards implementing effective SWM programmes as well as the absence of water safety management plans. It concluded by proposing a number of targeted interventions seeking to improve the human health conditions of cities failing to cope with uncollected waste.
This article discusses the problems of logistical support for road maintenance to manage road accidents in Vhembe district municipalities. A budget deficit model was used to explain the level of inadequate logistics support to manage operations and maintenance of municipal roads as a preventative measure against road accident and disaster risks. A hypothetical road maintenance deficit model informed by current literature on road maintenance was used to explain how cost of road maintenance increases exponentially if initial maintenance was not undertaken when the facility was newly constructed to draw the link between road maintenance and the risk of road accidents. Inadequate logistical support to address road maintenance backlogs in Vhembe district municipalities has been on the increase over the last 10 years. Current studies show that inadequate road maintenance can lead to the development of potholes - a major cause of road accidents and damages to motor vehicles. Literature on logistics support emphasises a comprehensive approach to road maintenance to provide a balance between funding, routine maintenance, quality of materials used for maintenance, use of stipulated specifications, the required maintenance technology, innovations and employment of qualified service providers to ensure quality roads and reduction of accidents on municipal roads.
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