| Abstract | The dissertation titled "Developing Alternative Solid Waste Management Practices in Local Governments: A Case Study of Yala Municipality, Thailand" is generated from the urban environmental management initiatives jointly implemented by the Canadian Universities Consortium- Urban Environmental Management project ( CUC-UEM) at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) and Yala Municipal Administration (YMA). CUCUEM provided technical advice, consultation and other capacity building supports to YMA. The researcher, who served CUC-UEM as project coordinator, conducted parallel action research. It follows Willard's 'engagement model' by which both parties - the researcher and the YMA staff (as well as residents) - jointly learned together how to solve some solid waste problems. The data was gathered mainly in the period December 1999 - June 2001, through field survey, observation of direct paiiicipation, interviews and meetings. Other relevant documents were also utilised. Yala city is located in the southern part of Thailand. It has been recognised nation-wide as a beautiful, clean and green city. However, this success was based on high economic and financial costs since it employed mainly the end-of-pipe approach to solid waste management, e.g. hiring more than 200 labourers to clean public spaces and picking up household waste twice a day. Community pa1iicipation was passive and based on incentives offered by the municipality. This co-operation project emphasised concepts of participation and empowerment. Alternative solid waste management projects (ASWM) were used as a means to strengthen the competence of the community, private sector and civic network. It aimed ambitiously at introducing a new strategy for urban environmental management as well as good governance for the city. While implementing the projects, the researcher conducted his action research in parallel, by documenting processes and results derived from various actions implemented by the city adminish·ation and local communities. Processes for human resources development (HRD), organisational development (OD) and institutional development (ID) were launched. Municipal administrators, staff and community leaders were the main target groups for HRD, which included three training courses, three study trips, two city multi-stakeholder forums and more than twenty consultative meetings among concerned staff. The content of these capacity-building activities covered concepts and practices of alternative solid waste management, community development, good governance, strategic planning, and urban environmental management. OD included actions to help improving communication and working procedures, while ID aimed at policy and regulatory changes. At the beginning, YMA and CUC-UEM intended to implement four ASWM projects: the community-based Garbage for Eggs (GFE: recyclables exchanged for eggs); the agencybased Bio Extract project (BEP : organic waste fermentation, to produce a liquid for odour removing and fertiliser substitution) ; the school-based Solid Waste Bank (SWB : recyclables business run by students) ; and the multi-stakeholder-owned Material Recovery Facility (MRF: a reuse and repairs business, as well as fermenting and composting organic waste). Due to internal political pressure the fourth project was not implemented. The municipal environment agency chose the four projects after learning about nine ASWM cases in Thailand and a few others in Asia. The researcher made an inventory of those cases and explained them to the staff and community leaders in Yala. The level of achievement varied. GFE was more successful than the other projects and was expanded to other communities. The amounts of waste in various communities declined and residents were happy with the economic gain (eggs) from transactions of recyclables. Most importantly, it created cohesiveness among community residents and leaders, and self-confidence that they could do something to solve their problems. As a result, they gained recognition and respect from the municipal administration, and from other audiences who learnt about this practice through direct visits and mass media. The municipal administrators had peace of mind, and gained regional and national reputation for its GFE initiative. But the sustainability of GFE was not yet assured. The educational dimension was not intensive enough, and there was no effort to involve more multistakeholders into GFE business, as officers rather than as customers. The BEP was not so successful. The staff produced only small quantities of BE, so the amounts of organic waste taken out from the waste stream or the waste dumpsite were not remarkable. No community followed the implementation of BEP. This might be caused by the physical constraint of the BE production process, which required a big space. Also, molasses, the major ingredient for this process, was not easily accessible in the city. In addition, users of BE always asked for it to be provided free instead of buying it as planned. SWB collapsed after a few operations. There was an extemality: many itinerant buyers from other towns and communities came to the community where the school was located (due to an economic crisis). Purchases were made at the home door. The teachers did not make an effort to explain to parents that SWB was not only for an economic purpose but also for social, environmental and educational development of students as well. The staff who implemented BEP and SWB did not understand empowerment and selfreliance concepts and ultimate goals. They also lacked supervision and support from their supervisors and the researcher. The GFE was different since the key actors were community leaders. There was no proof that ASWM influenced the attitude of the Y ala residents, but waste collection efficiency increased from 37.7 % in 1999 to 54.1 % and 58.6 % in 2000 and 2001 respectively. Replicability of GFE and BEP were observed in Pattani municipality, to which the former director of YMA environment agency was transferred. The BEP project was well receptive by residents and administrators as it could remove odour in the seafood central market and piers. Pattani municipality produced many times more BE than Yala. However, GFE was less successful and impressive in Pattani as municipal staff operated it, rather than community leaders. ASWM can supplement mainstream solid waste management projects. It could also be a useful entry for introducing urban environmental management concepts and practice. Good ASWM projects should be fun and provide multi-dimensional benefits. This implies that one must address ASWM from multiple but holistic viewpoints: social, educational, economic, environmental and political. ASWM allows new stakeholders to play roles in a city's problem-solving process. The roles of the service provider, like the municipality, should be changed from leading and controlling to facilitating and supporting. Meanwhile the community and private sectors should take more active roles in planning, decision-making, implementing city development projects and/or operating self-help and mutual help activities. Last but not least, the community and the private sector should share in the costs as well as benefits of such projects. In this study, except int he G FE case, the community and private sector roles were not so active. The study also indicates the factors influencing the adoption and sustainability of ASWM. They were (1) commitment of leaders, (2) existence of a network implementation structure, (3) inertia of bureaucratic system, (4) capacity of human resources, (5) degree of social and political pressure, (6) strong traditions and social roles behaviour, and (7) the evolving political and administrative contexts of the country. To introduce urban environmental management successfully, one must identify a strategic entry point that arouses awareness and interest among stakeholders. Communication, equally important to empowerment and management principles, must be emphasised. Planning must be done in a strategic and participative manner. New alternatives for urban environmental financing, mostly derived from various stakeholders, must be pursued. As educational reform is in place, there is an opportunity to insert environmental issues and practices into local curricula. People from all walks of life will have new and interrelated roles to play in this 'game'. Media should be invited to take part in planning and implementing ASWM and other public issues, not only as a means for information dissemination. HRD is very important and cannot be overlooked. Professional training must be accommodated into the municipal structure. An external party can play a crucial role to create linkages and strengthen local paitners : the municipal administration, and the private and community sectors. Moreover, the municipal working procedure and managerial styles, and the policy and regulatory framework, must be reviewed and changed in such a way as to promote community, business and civic empowerment and participation. Without this set of changed paradigms, it is difficult to achieve success. |