CREATING A GIS APPLICATION FOR SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN LUGBE FEDERAL HOUSING ESTATE, F.C.T., ABUJA - NIGERIA

The study evaluates the volume of solid waste generated within the Lugbe FHE and creates a GIS application for appropriate planning and management of solid waste. 5% of the 5680 estimated houses in Lugbe FHE were sampled for the study, thus a total of 284 copies of questionnaires were distributed, out of which 250 copies of the questionnaire were completed and returned for analysis. Descriptive statistics were largely employed; Moisture and Density of Solid Waste as well as stepwise multiple regressions were determined. The aerial photos for Lugbe were acquired from Abuja Geographic Information System and analyzed using various ArcGIS function. The final model obtained by stepwise regression has only the percentage of respondents who had no formal education and the percentage household size as selected predictors of solid waste generation. Household size was the best predictor of solid waste generation followed by No formal education. The proportion of the variance of solid waste generation explained by this model is 0.627. The existing dumpsites are not serving the whole of Lugbe FHE, and there is a large part of the housing estate that is not within the collection center catchment area. An asset of the maps developed in this study is that, they allow pinpointing isolated households/houses with deficient access to modern waste collection centers sites. The study recommends for route planning for waste collection vehicles using GPS. education and enlightenments among the residents for a healthy and clean environment with minimal cost.