Community Participation in Strengthening Waste Management Systems in Makassar, Indonesia

Mismanaged garbage can seriously compromise the health of city residents. Interaction with poorly managed solid waste increases the incidence of diarrhea, infectious diseases, animal bites, respiratory ailments, and skin disease. And when waste clogs sewage drains and blocks roads, it can also increase drowning and car accidents. On this World Environmental Health Day, we recognize waste’s role in the larger urban health system, and community members’ critical role in devising waste management solutions.

Maccini Sombala village is an informal settlement in Makassar, Indonesia. Like the rest of the city, it experiences a rainy season during which flooding is more likely. Despite the city government’s efforts to control waste and flooding, poor garbage disposal practices in Maccini Sombala, especially on roadsides and waterways, persist.

The USAID-funded Building Healthy Cities (BHC) project, with local partner LSKP, used a participatory approach to map the interaction of waste, water, and health in Maccini Sombala that involved residents in every step.

After data collection and analysis, the BHC team presented findings at town hall-style meetings called “data walks,” during which residents provided more context to the data, validated the information, and suggested solutions to the problems presented. Details are in the full report, but the solutions included:

• improving regular waste collection
• reviving community waste banks
• changing sewer drain design
• greater posyandu (integrated health service post) support
• composting
• improving access to drinking water
• 3Rs—reduce, reuse, recycle—education campaigns.

Residents, especially women, provided insights about how to work with local customs and overcome household-level challenges.

“This study made us aware of the various weaknesses of waste management in our area. For that, we really hope that the results of this study can be followed up with programs that can help us solve the problem of waste management in our village.” – MU, resident and data walk participant

Improvements resulting from the study include distribution of different-colored garbage bins to help people sort their waste appropriately, and a reduction in illegal dumping. The Institute of Research and Community Service at Hasanuddin University has donated a plastic shredding machine to facilitate the community waste bank’s work.

Smart City Makassar, the mayor’s office, and other key city organizations now get citizen-led feedback on ways to reduce waste and flooding and create sustainable, circular waste economies in Maccini Sombala and similar neighborhoods across the city. BHC hopes that all parties will work together to integrate these suggested solutions.

Learn more about BHC’s other environmental health efforts.

Photo credit: LSKP