Operation and maintenance of market toilets in Kampala City

Abstract

The main objective of study was to assess the operation and maintenance of market toilets in Kampala basing on the following specific objectives; to access the design of market toilets in Kampala, to access the management of the market toilets, and to determine the suitable operations and management model for the market toilets. The study used a cross sectional design combining qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. It also focused on 377 toilet users, and 19 Toilet administrators. Primary data was collected using an interview guide and questionnaires. Secondary data was gathered from KCCA reports, government reports and other accessible data sources. Quantitative Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS, thereafter presented inform of frequency tables and graphs. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically by grouping related responses on a master sheet and the findings integrated in the quantitative data during presentation of findings in the quotes and narratives. According to the results 61.5% of the respondents noted that they clean toilets in the markets, and 38.5% said they do not clean the toilets. Implying that most toilets in the markets are clean although there are some which are dirty, 85% of respondents noted that toilets did not have special toilets for people with disability. 51.9% of the people did not feel safe using the toilet in public markets because at night there is no lighting, the women share the same stances with the men. Besides that, toilet papers are not always available in most market toilets, although most people do not pay to use the toilet in public markets. For those who pay there are different amounts for toilets in public markets, on average most people pay 200 shillings for toilet use 59.6% find payment for toilets in public markets fair. Nevertheless, most people think the market toilets are not operated and maintained well because at night there is no lighting, inadequate toilet paper, soap and water and in order to improve on the market toilets, increase on the number of emptying, increase number of stances and also put lighting. It’s also recommended that public toilets need to be fully managed by market vendors themselves with support from KCCA so that water availability is ensured, toilet provision for people with disability and toilet paper to use to avoid blockage of the toilet system. With that in place this will ensure provision of adequate sanitary facilities which is a universal human right to the people in the markets.