Altered urban landscape: Shedding light on conflicts in a landfill community in Ghana

The challenge of solid waste management has been subjected to a variety of reactions and interpretations: strange mixtures of neglect and misconceptions of what could be the way forward. Over the years, Ghanaian authorities have problematized issues of waste management to collection and transportation and have shied away from formulating policies that can limit conflicts in waste sink communities. This article examines how a landfill infrastructure in Kumasi has engendered conflicts. Triggers of the conflicts and key actors involved are examined using data generated from a questionnaire survey of 160 households obtained through the quadrant method. The results show that three actors are involved in the conflicts: the chiefs and residents on one side and municipal authorities on the other. While the chiefs accuse municipal authorities of illegally acquiring the landfill site and of non-compensation payment, concerns of community members are their alienation from site management as enjoined by law. They also argue that the facility has degraded the environment and divested the local economy. The paper concludes that context and situation are significant for how, where and to what degree solid waste is disposed.