MASARYK UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF SOCIAL STUDIES

Department of Sociology

PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP IN SOLID WASTE

MANAGEMENT IN THIMPHU, BHUTAN.

Masters Thesis

Leki Sangay

Supervisor: Nadia Johanisova, Ph.D.

UCO: 434495

Study Field: Sociology

Year of Enrolment: 2014 Brno, 2016

i
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work towards fulfilment for the award of masters

degree in Sociology and that, to the best of my knowledge, it contains no material previously

published by another person nor material which has been accepted for the award of any other

degree of the University, except where due acknowledgement has been made in the text.

LEKI SANGAY .

(Student) Signature Date

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Firstly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to my supervisor Dr.

Nadia Johanisova, for her excellent guidance, caring and generous encouragement throughout

my writing. Without her help, I could have never imagined the successful completion of my

thesis. A special thanks to Dr. Bernadette Nadya Jaworsky, the Programme Director,

Department of Sociology for her valuable advice and support.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Phub Tshering, Environmental Officer

from Thimphu Municipality and Mr. Subash Sharma, the Chief Strategy Officer, Greener

Way for providing many information and data to my study.

Lastly, I want to thank my wife Kinley Wangmo and our little son Drugyal Tshering Jamtsho

for their love, motivation, support and encouragement throughout my study abroad.

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

DECLARATION .......................................................................................................................ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ....................................................................................................... iii

LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................. ix

LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................... x

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................... xi

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1

1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Background Information .................................................................................................. 1

1.3 Statement of the Research Problem ................................................................................. 3

1.4 Research Objective ........................................................................................................... 5

1.5 Research Questions .......................................................................................................... 5

1.6 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................. 6

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................ 7

2.1 Theoretical Framework .................................................................................................... 7

2.1.1 The Neoclassical Free Market Theory and Privatization .......................................... 7

2.1.2 Coordination Failure Approach ............................................................................... 10

2.2 The Concept of Privatization.......................................................................................... 11

2.3 What is Public-Private Partnership? ............................................................................... 12

2.4 Potential Benefits of Public Private Partnership ............................................................ 12

2.5 Potential Risks of Public Private Partnerships ............................................................... 14

2.6 Models of Public-Private Participation in Solid Waste Management ............................ 17

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 2.6.1 Service Contract ...................................................................................................... 17

2.6.2 Lease Contracts........................................................................................................ 18

2.6.3 Concession ............................................................................................................... 18

2.6.4 Joint Venture............................................................................................................ 19

2.7 The Concept of Waste Management .............................................................................. 20

2.7.1 The Nature of Waste Management in the Global South .......................................... 21

2.8 Waste Management in Thimphu .................................................................................... 24

2.9 Legal and Policy Framework for Solid Waste Management in Bhutan ......................... 27

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................ 28

3.1 Research Design ............................................................................................................. 28

3.2 Selection of Study Areas. ............................................................................................... 28

3.3 Selection of Respondents ............................................................................................... 31

3.4 Data Collection Method ................................................................................................. 33

3.4.1 Household Questionnaire ........................................................................................ 33

3.4.2 Interview Questionnaire .......................................................................................... 34

3.4.3 Field Observation .................................................................................................... 34

3.4.4. Documentary Analysis (Secondary Data) .............................................................. 35

3.5 Methods of Data Analysis .............................................................................................. 35

3.6 American Sociological Association (ASA) Citing and References. .............................. 36

3.7 Ethical Consideration ..................................................................................................... 36

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CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ........................ 37

4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 37

4.2 Background of Respondents........................................................................................... 37

4.3 Research Objective 1: Extent of improvement in waste management resulting from

public private partnership (PPP) .......................................................................................... 39

4.3.1 Means of Household Waste Disposal ...................................................................... 39

4.3.1.1 Discussion ........................................................................................................ 40

4.3.2 Existence of Segregation of Household Waste........................................................ 40

4.3.2.1 Discussions ...................................................................................................... 41

4.3.3 Waste Collection Frequency .................................................................................... 43

4.3.3.1 Discussion ........................................................................................................ 44

4.3.4 Adherence to Time Schedule for Household Waste Collection. ............................. 45

4.3.4.1 Discussion ........................................................................................................ 46

4.3.5 The status of Community Cleanliness ..................................................................... 47

4.3.5.1 Discussion ........................................................................................................ 47

4.3.6 Overall Satisfaction with Waste Collection Service................................................ 50

4.3.6.1 Discussion ........................................................................................................ 50

4.4 Research Objective 2: Community Support for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for

Waste Management in Thimphu. ......................................................................................... 51

4.4.1 Community Support for Greener Way in Waste Management. .............................. 51

4.4.1.1 Discussion ........................................................................................................ 52

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 4.4.2 Residents Willingness to Pay Service Fee for Waste the Collection Service. ....... 53

4.4.2.1 Discussion ........................................................................................................ 54

4.5 Research Objective 3: Community Participation in Waste Management ...................... 54

4.5.1 Educating Publics on Waste Management Through Awareness Campaigns .......... 55

4.5.1.1 Discussion ........................................................................................................ 55

4.5.2 Organizing Voluntary Cleaning Campaigns for Public Participation ..................... 56

4.5.2.1 Discussion ........................................................................................................ 56

CHAPTER FIVE: INTERVIEWS: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ..................................... 58

5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 58

5.2 The Waste Situation in Thimphu ................................................................................... 58

5.3 Greener Way, Local Private Waste Company ............................................................... 59

5.4 The Public Private Partnership (PPP)............................................................................. 60

5.5 General Terms and Condition of the Contract ............................................................... 60

5.6 Infrastructural Strength: Municipality vs Greener Way ................................................. 62

5.7 Financial Cost ................................................................................................................. 62

5.8 Outcome of Partnership.................................................................................................. 63

5.9 Promoting Community Participation in Waste Management ........................................ 64

CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................... 65

6.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 65

6.2 General Discussion and Conclusion............................................................................... 65

6.3 Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 67

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REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 68

APPENDIXES ......................................................................................................................... 73

Appendix A: Legal and Policy Framework for Solid Waste Management in Bhutan............. 73

Appendix B: Household Survey Questionnaire ....................................................................... 76

Appendix C: Request for Interview ......................................................................................... 81

Appendix D: Interview with the official of the Thimphu Municipality .................................. 81

Appendix E: Interview with the official of the private waste company Greener Way. ........... 84

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 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Projection of Municipal Waste Generation in Thimphu .......................................... 24

Figure 2: Composition of Waste in Thimphu .......................................................................... 26

Figure 3: Map of Study Area ................................................................................................... 30

Figure 4: Inspection of Household Waste ................................................................................ 42

Figure 5: Changjiji Residential Buildings with Maximum of Four Stories and Comprises of

More Than Four Households. .................................................................................................. 49

Figure 6: Drains Clogged with Different Kinds of Waste in Dechencholing Area ................. 49

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 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Background Characteristics of the Respondents ....................................................... 38

Table 2: Disposal Mode of Household Waste ......................................................................... 40

Table 3: Segregation Before and After Public-Private Partnership ......................................... 41

Table 4: Frequency of Waste Collected in a Week.................................................................. 43

Table 5: Adherence to Timely Collection of Household Waste From The Residents............. 46

Table 6: Maintenance of Cleanliness of the Surroundings of the Districts ............................. 47

Table 7: Overall Satisfaction with Waste Collection Service .................................................. 50

Table 8: Support for Greener Way by the Residents ............................................................... 52

Table 9: Respondents Willingness to Pay .............................................................................. 53

Table 10: Public Education and Awareness Programme for Waste Management .................. 55

Table 11: Organizing Cleaning Campaigns ............................................................................. 56

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 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ADB. Asian Development Bank

APO. Asian Productivity Organization

BLT...Built-Lease-Transfer

BOO. Built-Operate Own

BOT. Built-Transfer-Operate

BROTBuilt-Rehabilitate-Operate-Transfer

BTN...Bhutanese Ngultrum

CBS...Centre for Bhutan Studies

IMFInternational Monetary Fund

MoLHR.Ministry of Labour and Human Resources

MoWHS.Ministry of Works and Housing Settlement

NSBBNational Statistical Bureau of Bhutan

PHCB.Population and Housing Census of Bhutan

PPP Public Private Partnership

RGoB.Royal Government of Bhutan

TCC.. Thimphu City Corporation

UNDPUnited Nations Development Programme

UNEP United Nations Environment Programme

WHO. World Health Organization

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Abstract

A public-private partnership was established by the Thimphu Municipality (Bhutan) with a

small local private company (The Greener Way) in 2014 to try and improve the municipal

waste-collection system. The thesis uses quantitative and qualitative research methods in two

Thimphu districts (one serviced by the Municipality, one by the Greener Way) and interviews

with professionals within the Municipality and private company to look at the benefits and

risks of the new system of waste collection in Thimphu. It attempts to link the Thimphu case

study with the wider discourse around public-private partnerships and more generally

privatisation of public services in global South countries. The results indicate that the public-

private partnership in Thimphu has improved waste management significantly, expanding

source segregation of household waste at source. Collection of household waste was more

timely and more frequent in the districts covered by the public-private partnership. However,

costs may prove to be an issue in the future, as well as waste-pickers livelihoods. While it is

difficult to generalise from one case study, it seems that the motivation of the Greener Way

protagonists and its small-scale and local character were factors influencing the relative

success of this particular public-private partnership in waste management in Thimphu.

Keywords: Municipal solid waste; Public-private partnership; Waste management; Thimphu;

Bhutan.

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 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

Maintaining a clean and sustainable environment is a global concern. As population growth

and urbanization continues to take place, management of solid waste is becoming a major

environmental and public health problem, especially in the urban areas of the global South.

Many countries have adapted several strategies to ensure a clean and sustainable environment

in fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals. One of the common strategies the global

North and South countries use is the public-private partnership for management of municipal

solid waste. The public-private partnership in Bhutan was established in 2014 and the aim of

this thesis is to look at the benefits and risks of this new system of waste collection in

Thimphu and link it to the wider discourse around the topic of public-private partnerships and

more generally privatisation of public services in global South countries.

1.2 Background Information

The world population until mid of 2013 was 7.2 billion and is projected to increase by almost

one billion by 2025 with an average growth rate of 1 percent per year (UN 2013). As of 2014,

the world urban population accounted for 54 percent of the total world population. The global

urban population is expected to grow approximately 1.84 percent per year between 2015 and

2020, 1.6 percent per year between 2020 and 2025, and 1.4 percent per year between 2025

and 2030 (WHO 2014). With such magnitude of population growth, many studies indicated

that solid waste management has become a global problem, especially in the countries of

global South in the world. Hoornweg and Tata (2012) in their study, What a Waste: A

Global Review of Solid Waste Management found that the annual global generation of

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municipal solid waste was 1.3 billion tons per year, and predicted that the waste generation

will increase to approximately 2.2 billion tons per year by 2025 if efforts are not taken to

reduce its generation. The authors also found out that South and East Asia generates about 1

million tons of waste per day and accounts for 33% of the worlds total waste.

Bhutan is a small and landlocked Himalayan Kingdom, located between China (Tibet) in the

north and India to the south. It has east-west dimension (longest) stretching around 300

kilometers and 170 kilometers at its maximum north-south dimension. It has a total

population of 748,303 living within a total landmass of 38,394 square kilometres (NSBB

2014). According to Centre for Bhutan Studies (CBS), before 1961 the isolated Himalayan

Kingdom of Bhutan had little contact with the outside world. Its vibrant culture and rich

environment remained surprisingly undisturbed amidst the roaring modern global societies.

The transformation of Bhutan started most rapidly since 1961, when the Third King launched

the five-year developmental plans. Since then Bhutan has seen rapid town building and

urbanization. Among many, Thimphu1, was the fastest growing urban city in Bhutan

followed by Phuentsholing which is the second largest city and the industrial hub of Bhutan.

Like many other global South countries, Bhutan is currently facing the challenge of

increasing population and rapid urbanization. The increase in urban population is mainly

because of increased rural-urban migration over the last decade. According to Choda (2012),

the lack of adequate educational, employment opportunities and inadequate service facilities

in rural areas are the major reasons driving rural-urban migration. According to Population

and Housing Census of Bhutan (PHCB) 2005, the total population of Bhutan accounted for

672,425 of which 196,111 were urban population making up 31 percent of the total

1
Thimphu is the largest and the capital city of Bhutan. It is also the political and economic centre of
Bhutan
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population. Thimphu, has recorded the highest population of 98,678 of which 54,685 were

migrants from different states across the country. According to United Nations Development

Programme, Bhutan accounts for the highest internal migration rate in South Asia at six

percent internal migration rate in 2009 (Kuenselonline 2009 cited in Choda 2012). The

proportion of urban population has increased by more than 6 percent between 1995 and 2000

and with continued growth in urban population it is projected that by 2020 half of Bhutans

population will be residing in urban areas.

Following consistent growth of urban population and urbanization, the municipal authorities

in Bhutan most of which are poorly equipped are facing a serious problem of solid waste

management and sanitation. According to United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),

country report 2001, while the magnitude of the problem is relatively small and manageable

in rural areas, it appears to be a very serious problem in urban areas in Bhutan, where waste

has become a source of pollution (air, soil and water) and public nuisance. The report

identified municipal waste as an emerging problem in the larger towns of Thimphu and

Phuentsholing and recommended improvement in the existing system to develop separate

solid waste management rules and more specific guidelines, to provide community waste

bins, and promote door to door collection system.

1.3 Statement of the Research Problem

Waste disposal is an emerging problem in almost all the urban towns in Bhutan. Until the

1960s, the urban population of Bhutan was very small and overwhelmingly a rural

community, so the disposal of municipal waste and other waste did not pose any challenge to

the local municipal authority. However, with implementation of five-year development plan

since 1961, Thimphu has experienced steady economic growth leading to increase in urban

3
population and urban expansion. With such magnitude of concentration of urban population,

Thimphu faces many environmental problems and service delivery challenges. One such

problem is the mounting volume of municipal solid waste generated from production and

consumption activities that needs immediate attention. Against this situation of mounting

waste, the Thimphu municipal authority has been struggling in managing the municipal

waste, particularly collection, transportation, storage and safe disposal. Moreover, the

Municipalitys challenges are compounded with lack infrastructure, logistics, and financial

resources (UNDP 2012).

Memelakha2 is the only landfill in the Thimphu. It is located at about 12 kilometres away

from the Thimphu city which was built in the year 1994. It was initially designed and built

with capacity to intake maximum of 8 tons of municipal waste daily for a period of 8 years

(TCC 2010). According to Thimphu municipal authority, the residents of Thimphu generates

about 50 tons of wastes every day which is eventually disposed-off at Memelakha landfill. It

has been 22 years since it was first built, however, the landfill is used beyond its capacity and

it has been overflowing for many years. Because of this, the landfill has been the source of

foul odour to communities located close to the landfill and regular passer-by.

Therefore, because of the failure on the part of the Thimphu Municipality to handle the

growing waste issue and to ensure efficient service delivery, the Municipality partnered with

a small local private waste company called the Greener Way which is based in Thimphu.

Greener Way took over the collection, transportation and disposal of municipal waste from

Thimphu Municipality starting January 2015. Such partnership is first of its kind in Bhutan.

This study, therefore seeks to gain an insight into the impact of Municipalitys partnership

2
Memelakha is the only landfill which is located 12 kilometres away from Thimphu city.
4
with the Greener Way in waste management in Thimphu. This study also seeks to explore

community support for public private partnership and the extent of community participation

in waste management. Finally, it seeks to make recommendations to improve waste

management in Thimphu.

1.4 Research Objective

The purpose of this study is to enhance the understanding of public-private partnership in

waste management in urban areas of Bhutan with emphasis on Thimphu. It also seeks to

understand the level of civil society participation in waste management and support for

public-private partnership in Thimphu. In line with these, the specific objectives the study

are:

a. To assess the extent to which public-private partnership has improved or worsened

waste management in Thimphu.

b. To investigate if residents are in support of the partnership to manage waste in

Thimphu.

c. To find out if community participation in managing waste is encouraged.

d. To make recommendations to improve waste management in Thimphu.

1.5 Research Questions

a. Has Thimphu Municipals partnership with Greener Way contributed to improved

waste management in Thimphu?

b. Are the residents of Thimphu in support of the public private partnership in managing

waste?

c. How is community participation in waste management encouraged in Thimphu by the

Municipality and the Greener Way?

5
 d. What can be done to improve waste management in Thimphu?

1.6 Significance of the Study

The results of the study will give an understanding of the effect of public-private partnership

in waste management in Thimphu and by association with other urban areas of Bhutan. They

may also help the government and other stakeholders to engage in activities that will improve

the collection and disposal of waste. From a theoretical point of view, this research will

contribute to the advancement of existing knowledge in the area of waste management. The

relevance of this research will be to provide results oriented toward means of managing waste

and eventually reduce environmental pollution in Bhutan.

Recommendations from this research may help develop policies or programs that will help to

give a positive direction towards the management of waste in Thimphu and other emerging

urban areas in Bhutan. The findings from the study will also serve as useful baseline data

which can inform numerous follow-up studies in the future. Hopefully, it will also inspire and

stimulate further studies in the areas of waste management related studies in Bhutan.

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 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Theoretical Framework

This study utilized a theoretical triangulation by combining the Neoclassical Free Market

Theory and Coordination Failure Approach as theoretical framework. These theories provide

different, yet similar, perspective on public private partnership, thus, combining helped

provide in-depth explanation on the extent to which public-private partnerships and

coordination among various stakeholders could improve waste management.

2.1.1 The Neoclassical Free Market Theory and Privatization

There are many development theories of which neo-classical mainstream development model

is the dominant one today. Schumacher (1973) in his essay Buddhist Economy from his

book Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered, reveals that behind

mainstream economics, there are always some assumptions. The assumptions are that the

elements of neo-classical theory which includes the free trade, deregulations of state rules,

privatization of public enterprises are good for society. These assumptions have led to the

development of free market and deregulation policies, which have become part of the

dominant development model in many countries across the globe. This mainstream model has

been criticised from various perspectives (Korten 1995; Schumacher 1973; Stiglitz et al.

2014; Shiva 2008; Peet and Hartwick 2009). This study, however focuses only on the

privatization aspect of the neo-classical development model.

Neoliberal ideas have enjoyed greater prominence since the 1980s. The neo-classical theory

assumes that private sector to be inherently dynamic, productive, and dependable, and that it

7
is intrinsically superior to public institutions for the delivery of public services. According to

Todaro and Smith (2012), the leading proponents of neo-classical theory such as Lord Peter

Bauer, Deepak Lal, Ian Little, Harry Johnson, Jagdish Bhaguah and Anno Krueger argue that

most of the countries in the global South are under-developed because of heavy state

intervention in economic activities, inefficiency and lack of economic incentives and not

because of the predatory activities of the global North and the international agencies.

Advocates of the neo-classical theory contends, that government intervention in the economy

and the private initiatives will ultimately improve the welfare of the entire society.

Proponents of neoclassical like, Kikeri and Nellis (2004) and Savas (1987), argue that public

ownership of enterprises, especially in the countries of global South, has proved to be

wasteful and inefficient, producing low-quality goods and services at high cost. Similarly,

Moe (1987), argues that public sector is too large and are overloaded with pressure and that

functions presently performed by the government might better be assigned to private sector,

as it is argued, that private sector will perform these functions more efficiently and

economically then the public sector. The rationale behind this stems partly from public choice

theory. Public choice theory, a subset of neo-classical theory, argues that public officials,

both elected and non-elected, must not be assumed to be acting in the public interest. As

rational human beings, public officials are self-interested and look to maximize their selfish

gains. Therefore, the public choice theory assumes that politicians, bureaucrats, and states act

solely from a self-interested perspective, using their power and the authority of government

for their own selfish ends (Todaro and Smith 2012).

The rapid growth of privatization, however, is a highly contested topic of discussion. Many

critics of privatization oppose that private ownership of public enterprise does not necessarily

8
lead to improved efficiency of service delivery. More importantly, they argue, private sector

managers always adopt profit-making strategies or corporate practices that make essential

services unaffordable or unavailable to large segments of the population (Goodman and

Loveman 1999; Hall 2014). Some critics argue instead of gaining efficiency and

improvement in service delivery, the practice of privatization of public assets and service,

rather leads to inefficiency, corruption and inequality by means of concentration of power

and wealth in the privileged few, which includes shareholders, managers, investors, all of

those who are connected to the political elite whereas the costs are borne by the many,

particularly taxpayers, consumers, and workers, thus reducing overall welfare (Morgan and

England 1988; Hall 2014; Starr 1987).

However, Kikeri and Nellis (2004) argues that it will lead to improvement of welfare if

privatizations are implemented correctly which includes the suitability of privatization to

local conditions, deepening efforts to promote competition and regulatory frameworks,

enforcing transparency, and introducing mechanisms to ensure that the poor have access to

affordable essential services. Similarly, Grossman (2012) argues public-private partnership is

not a full-fledged privatization rather quasi- governmental or formal collaboration between

the public and private sector to achieve public goals. He argues that public private

partnerships as innovative management tool which is essential for achieving what either

public or private sector cannot achieve on its own.

Therefore, if public-private partnership in waste management is implemented with

appropriate legal and policy framework, where the government has the full regulatory control

over private sector, it may lead to improved waste management. Like most of the developing

cities of the global South, Thimphu is faced with increasingly large waste generation and

9
improper disposal. The Municipality has struggled to deliver an efficient and satisfactory

service to the public. Therefore, the Municipality has partnered with a local private waste

company in an effort to improve waste management which includes collection, transportation

and safe disposal of municipal waste. I have undertaken this study to see the extent to which

waste management has improved since the commencement of public-private partnership in

Thimphu.

2.1.2 Coordination Failure Approach

This school of thought contends that, institutions inability to harmonize their actions and

decisions leads to a state where all agents are made worse off. Coordination failure approach

advocates the importance of coordination among various agents for successful outcome of

any projects or undertakings. In their book Economic Development Todaro and Smith

(2012) explain coordination failure as a state of affairs in which the inability of agents to

harmonize their actions and decisions leads to a state where all agents are made worse off.

Therefore, this approach helps in understanding how the coordination between public and

private sector, and general public in waste management will help in improving waste

management. A study by Oteng-Ababio (2007) showed that indeed coordination failure

results in breakdown of partnership and eventually poor waste management. In his work,

Private sector involvement in solid waste management in the Greater Accra Metropolitan

Area in Ghana revealed that public-private partnership will fail if one stakeholder fails to

deliver the service. The failure could arise in several ways, for example, if the municipal

authorities fail to make the payment for service delivery, the contractors also fail to sustain

regular service delivery because of non-payment for work done, and eventually, the

consumers would be reluctant to pay for the inefficient service (Oteng-Ababio 2007). It

10
maintains that coordination between public and the private sector, harnessing the social

support, acceptability and participation is key to sustainable public-private partnership in

waste management.

Todaro and Smith (2012), illustrates coordination failure approach with where-to-meet

dilemma among group of friends. Several friends know they will be in a particular city on a

certain day yet they have not settled on the specific location to meet. They are completely out

of communication and the only way they could meet at a common meeting point is either by

chance or by very clear guessing.

Although, this approach can be self-defeating in the light of world of digital communication

(texting, cell phones, emails), however, it presents an important insight to understanding the

importance of coordination between the public, private and public in general for efficient

waste management in Thimphu Bhutan.

2.2 The Concept of Privatization

There is no universally accepted definition of privatization. Various scholars, institutions or

organizations have their own interpretations of the term privatization. According to Asian

Development Bank, privatization involves the sale of shares or the ownership in a company

or sale of operating assets or transfer of ownership of services owned by the public sector to a

privately owned institution. Similarly, Savas (1987:3) defines privatization as "the act of

reducing the role of government, or increasing the role of the private sector, in an activity or

in the ownership of assets. However, this study focuses only on the public-private partnership

aspect of privatization.

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2.3 What is Public-Private Partnership?

The term Public-Private Partnership (PPP, P3s or P3) has been used by many people to mean

different things, however, the definition for public-private partnership for this study was

adopted from Nyachhyons work, Prospects and Constraints of Public Private Partnership

for Urban Waste Management in Nepal. According to Nyachhyon (2006: 23), Public

private partnership refers to a:

tripartite form of contractual agreement between the public sector (government and

municipality) and the private sector (formal and informal enterprises) for provision of

basic services based on combination of commercial viability, sustainability,

environmental awareness, social responsibility, public accountability (fairness,

competitiveness and transparency) with effective involvement of civil societies

(communities, NGOs, research groups) as beneficiary target groups.

It can be said that public-private partnership is a model in which the public and private

sectors share a common public development goal and responsibility for the delivery of public

services. It involves a combination of public and private funding, an ideally a clear agreement

between the public and private sector with regard to sharing of resources and tasks, and

potential risks involved.

2.4 Potential Benefits of Public Private Partnership

There are several reasons for adopting public-private partnership model for project

implementation. According to the study by Inspectie Ontwikkelingssamenwerking en

Beleidsevaluatie (IOB), a Dutch Inspection and Development Policy, public-private

partnerships are preferred as suitable arrangements for promoting public goals, especially

when there is an institutional failure that hinders the delivery of public services. The study

12
pointed out that lack of adequate financial resources within the local authorities as one of the

reason for adopting to private partners. According to Asian Development Bank (ADB 2008),

the public-private partnership enhances efficiency by use of available resources effectively.

The study by Dilge et al. (2007) on Privatization of Municipal Services in Americas largest

Cities found out that the cost reduction and improvement in service delivery by the private

partners were the two most important factors that led to privatization of municipal services.

According to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

(UNESCAP 2011), the implementation of public-private partnership is not the solution nor it

will solve all the problems of service delivery, however, in some cases, the private partners

can contribute better technical skills, organizational capabilities, and flexibility in

implementing the projects as compared to the public sectors. The public sector can gain

substantial benefits when public-private partnerships are implemented in an appropriate

context, some of which are discussed below.

Savas (1987), in his extensive review of studies related to privatization of waste collection

found out that the privatization of residential waste collection in the cities of the United

States have benefited substantially in terms of higher coverage and increased collection of

residential waste as compared to that of the collection by the municipalities across United

States. He also found out that the expenditure made by the municipalities for the collection of

residential waste was higher by 35 percent compared to the expenditure made by the private

sector.

In India, for example, the closure of the Gorai dumping ground in Mumbai was the public

private partnership that transformed the quality of life in the local community. Gorai landfill

13
was in operation since 1972 and spread over 19.6 hectare of open space with residential areas

at close proximity. Prior to its closure, it had accumulated over 10 million tons of waste

reaching the heights of about 80 feet. The waste dumped there were left open in trenches to

decay, causing serious environmental and public health threats. The landfill served as fertile

breeding ground for disease-carrying flies and rodents, and increased the quantity of

untreated leachate, which led to groundwater contamination. The project started in 2007 and

was completed in 2010. In addition to the health, safety and pollution free environment, the

methane gas released from the site is used for generating electricity (Bhardwaj and Inocentes

2011). Similarly, the study by De Pinho Campos et al. (2011), found out that collaboration

between the government and the private medical company led to development of essential

drugs and vaccines for neglected diseases that benefited thousands of people in low and

middle-income countries.

When public private partnerships are implemented with appropriate regulatory policy it

seems likely that it will lead to achievement of common public goals. In waste management,

public private partnership may help address the growing issue of waste by combining the

private resources and expertise with that of the existing resources available with the

Municipality.

2.5 Potential Risks of Public Private Partnerships

A public-private partnership projects does not seem to feasible as postulated by many and it

does not always lead to achievement of common public goals as assumed. According to Hall

(2014), the public-private partnerships are expensive and inefficient way of financing

infrastructure and services. Many of those who oppose privatization of public enterprises

argue that the aim of most private companies, big or small is "solely to make profits in the

14
name of public service and therefore, are involved in projects from which they can get the

highest profits. They also argue that the decision makers among the public sector often tend

to overlook the major risks involved with privatization such as cost overruns (an excess of

actual cost over budget), inability to meet schedules for service delivery, poor service quality,

difficulty in complying with environmental and other regulations, or the risk of inadequate

revenue sufficient to pay the operating cost (UNESCAP 2011; Hall 2014). Therefore, it is of

utmost importance to critically examine the suitability to specific circumstances while

considering public-private partnerships for any project implementation. There are many cases

where public private partnerships have failed both in the countries of global North and South,

some of which are discussed in the following paragraphs.

A study by Pillow (2002), Garbage Wars reveals how communities of colour, ethnic

minorities, immigrants, and low income population are frequently the major victims of

environmental injustice in Chicago. The author describes about how the corrupt practices

within the public and private sectors systematically expose these communities to toxic

environmental and health hazards that resulted from dumping of all the industrial and

residential wastes produced by social groups that are not exposed to such toxic environment

and health hazards, but who consume the most natural resources and produce the most

garbage in Chicago. These communities live with a total area of 53 toxic facilities in

Chicago. Pillow further point out that all the labour forces were from low income groups (e.g.

African American) and were exposed to severe toxic environment working in the hazardous

waste resource centres and recycling plants.

In 1999, the Bolivian government privatized the water system in Cochabamba by granting a

40-year concession to an international consortium called Aguas del Tunari. This partnership

15
between the government and the foreign private company was a complete failure. There are

various factors that led to the failure of the partnership. A Study by Vives et al. (2006), reveal

that in a country with two-third of its population living below the poverty line, the private

firm charged the poor community with extraordinarily high and unaffordable price for water

service. As a result of it, the protest by Cochabamba community grew so violent that

President Banzer placed Bolivia under martial law for 90 days. Eventually, the contract was

terminated and responsibility for water service was turned over to a coalition of protesters,

which formed a mutual ownership a third way, not private or public. It seems that the

primary objective of private companies involved in Cochabamba waster service was solely to

make profits at the expense of the need of the poor people. The study also reveal that the

private firms left behind a debt of US$35 million for the government of Bolivia to pay to the

World Bank and other financial institutions.

According to Hall (2014), despite extensive promotion effort by international financial

institutes like the World Bank, the European Bank and the International Monetary Fund

(IMF), public-private partnerships struggled and has made tiny contributions. Public-private

partnerships are rather involved in projects that are more profitable to them, while

unprofitable projects are neglected. Hall (2014) reveals that public-private partnerships in

Europe are involved mostly in lucrative projects, for example, the toll roads, but not the

extension of toll free roads to improve rural or peri-urban areas. Similar is the case with the

countries of the Global South where public-private partnerships are mostly involved in

profitable projects. Substantial efforts put in by International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and

donors to invest to promote development in healthcare, energy, water and sanitation has not

been very successful and the results are very limited (Hall 2014). Privatization tends to

weaken the state and its capacity to provide community service on its own. By weakening the

16
state, it can reinforce corrupt elites and even led to loss of ownership or control over its assets

(Hall 2014).

It can be deduced that public private partnership can be a risky model for service delivery as

it does not work as always assumed. The government needs to be careful while adopting

public private partnership. For example, important public enterprises like health care and

education, should never be privatized. There is a danger that most of private companies that

operates for profit making, may deprive many, especially the low income group from basic

health care and education for poor children.

2.6 Models of Public-Private Participation in Solid Waste Management

There are wide range of public-private partnership models and each one is adopted in

accordance with the need of the government. It is useful to understand the nature of some of

the model before implementing. These models vary mainly by nature of ownership of capital

assets, responsibility for investment, assumption of risk and duration of contracts as discussed

below.

2.6.1 Service Contract

Service contract is an arrangement, in which the government hires a private company to carry

out one or more specified tasks or services for a period, typically for one to three years (ADB

2008). It involves the transfer of only a portion of publicly owned enterprise to the private

partner for service delivery, for example, municipal solid waste management. Under service

contract, the public sector is the primary provider of all the infrastructure necessary and also

funds any capital investments required to expand or improve the system. For example,

partnership in waste management would require the public sector to provide all the facilities

17
such as the garbage trucks, waste transfer stations, recycling plantsetc. to the private

partner for service delivery. The private partner is responsible for performing the task or

service delivery in accordance with the standards set in the contract with public sector at an

agreed cost (ADB 2011). The service contract is awarded through competitive bidding among

the private firms.

2.6.2 Lease Contracts

Lease contract is an arrangement under which the private partner takes over the responsibility

of operating and maintaining public infrastructure and equipment for service delivery (ADB

2008). The private sector takes the responsibilities relating to quality and service standards,

while the public sector retains the ownership of facility and equipment, control over the

specification of the service, and the evaluation of the performance of private partners. The

duration of the leasing contract is typically for 10 years and can be renewed for up to 20 years

(ADB 2008). Responsibility for service provision, the financial risk for operation and

maintenance is borne entirely by the private partner. The private partner retains the revenue

collected from the consumers and makes a specific payment to the government as specified in

the contract (ADB 2008). The contracts are awarded on a competitive basis among the

private firms.

2.6.3 Concession

According to Hall (2014), the concept of concessions existed even before the use of public-

private partnerships. Concessions were often used in the 19th century to develop water, gas,

and electricity systems, and railways, which involved high capital investment during those

days (Hall 2014). In general terms, a concession is a form of partnership between the public

and the private sector which operates under two model of Build-Operate-Own (BOO) and

18
Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT). The concession contracts are awarded to private partners

through competitive bidding procedures. Under concession contract, the private sector

operator is responsible for the delivery of services in a specified area, including operation,

maintenance, management, and construction and all other necessary investment required to

improve or expand the system (ADB 2008). A concession contract is typically valid for 25

30 years.

BOO (Build-Operate-Own) is a concession under which the private firm constructs and

operates the facilities and retains the ownership of the assets for a period set by contract,

which is sufficient enough for the private partner to recover investment and costs through

user charges, however, there is no obligation for the public sector to purchase the facility and

take the ownership (ADB 2008). Whereas under Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) type of

concession (and its other variants namely, Build-Transfer-Operate (BTO), Build-Rehabilitate-

Operate-Transfer (BROT), Build-Lease-Transfer (BLT) type of arrangement), the private

sector finances the construction of the facility in accordance with the specifications agreed to

by the public sector, operates the facility for a specified time period under a contract or

franchise agreement with the public sector, and then transfers the facility to the public sector

at the end of the specified period of time (UNESCAP 2011). At the end of the contract

period, the public partner can assume operating responsibility for the facility, contract the

operations to the original contract holder, or award a new contract to a new private partner

(ADB 2008).

2.6.4 Joint Venture

Joint venture is a public-private partnership model in which both the public and private sector

are jointly involved in financing the design and building a new infrastructure, operating the

19
existing infrastructure and equipment for service delivery (ADB 2008). Under joint venture,

both the public and private sector partner can sell their shares to one or several other private

investors. Both the public and private sector are responsible for co-financing required to

build, upgrade, or expand the existing system, and for financing of a new investment. The

risks and rewards are shared jointly between the public and the private sector (ADB 2008;

IOB 2013), however, the government takes a bigger responsibility as both the owner and

regulator under joint venture model (ADB 2008).

2.7 The Concept of Waste Management

The business of keeping our environment free from the contaminating effects of waste

materials is generally termed waste management. Waste management is that discipline

associated with the control of generation, storage, collection, transfer and transport,

processing and disposal of waste in the manner that is in accordance with the best principles

of public health, economics, conservation, aesthetics and other environmental considerations

(Ravi, et. al. 2007). Similarly, Gilpin (1996: 201) has defined waste management as

purposeful, systematic control of the generation, storage, collection, transportation,

separation, processing, recycling, recovery and disposal of solid waste in a sanitary,

aesthetically acceptable and economical manner

Waste management involves co-operation and co-ordination of a wide range of stakeholders,

which includes the municipalities, private waste companies, NGOs and most importantly the

general public to essentially maintain a clean, healthy and pleasant physical environment.

Waste management is, therefore, the practice of protecting, sustaining the environment, and

human health from the polluting effects of waste materials through minimization, collection,

transportation and disposal, recycling and reuse, and monitoring of waste materials.

20
2.7.1 The Nature of Waste Management in the Global South

As a result of economic development, rapid urbanization and the rise in living standard of the

people, the generation of municipal solid waste in the countries of the global South have

increased at substantial rate (Hoornweg and Tata 2012). As a result, the municipalities have

struggled to handle the growing issue of waste effectively, mainly because most of the

municipalities lacks necessary infrastructure, logistics, political will, policy implementation,

finance and human resources necessary for effective waste management (Pacione 2009;

Hazra and Goel 2009; Marshall and Farahbakhsh 2013). Available studies suggest that

municipal solid waste management practices in the countries of the Global South is generally

characterized by inefficient collection, coverage, storage, recycling and disposal (Ravi, et al.

2007). Municipal solid waste, therefore, constitutes one of the most crucial health and

environmental problems (Zurbrugg, et al. 2008; Guerrero, et al. 2012;). The United Nations

Centre for Human Settlement (UN-Habitat 2002) reported that, the need for the collection

and disposal of solid waste in urban settlements in the global South is far from adequately

recognized. The report states that only limited amount of municipal solid waste is collected

and recycling in most of the global south remain essentially an informal activity.

Low-income countries continue to spend most of their solid waste management budgets on

waste collection, with only a fraction going toward disposal. The World Bank estimates that

in developing countries, it is common for local municipalities to spend about 20-50 percent of

their available budget on solid waste management, even though 30-60 percent of all the urban

solid wastes remain uncollected and less than 50 percent of the population is served (UNEP

2009). According to findings of Pacione (2009), about one third of all solid waste generated

in the cities of global South remain uncollected, which are left to accumulate and contaminate

surface and ground water supplies, making it favorable condition for the propagation of

21
germs, mosquitos, other disease vectors, posing a serious human-induced environmental

hazard. He estimates the collection rate as low as 20 percent in some cases (Pacione 2009:

550-551). Depicting a similar problem, Visvanathan and Glawe (2006) in their study,

Domestic Solid Waste Management in South Asian Countries A Comparative Analysis

found out that significant amount of the solid waste generated in urban centers of South

Asian countries are not collected. The study found that solid wastes were collected without

segregation at the source and were mainly disposed-off haphazardly in open dump-sites,

rivers, creeks, marshy areas or burnt openly without proper waste treatment methods, thereby

posing a serious threat to public health. The collection facilities were either inadequate or

inefficient in almost all cites.

A study by Ravi, et. al (2007) Solid Waste Management: Issues and Challenges in Asia in

eleven countries that form the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) showed that solid

waste management is a major challenge in Asian cities. The report of the study which was

edited by the Environmental Management Centre, Mumbai, India showed that, waste

management in urban areas in most APO member countries are still grappling with the

challenge of preventing environmental degradation despite huge expenditures due to the poor

solid waste management. The study made a strong recommendation for introduction of

integrated solid waste management which includes adoption of private sector, community

participation, and policy reforms that includes reduction of waste generation at source, reuse

and recycle (3R) model for sustainable waste management.

For example, in a study by Gupta, et al. (1998) it was found that in India, the collection,

transportation and disposal of municipal waste as very basic and chaotic. Because of

indiscriminate and uncontrolled dumping of wastes on the outskirts of towns and cities, it has

22
created overflowing landfills, posing serious environmental implications in terms of ground

water pollution (Gupta, et al. 1998). Similarly, a study by Goal and Hazra (2008), found that

solid waste management in Kolkata was a major problem. The study described Kolkata as,

facing a crisis situation. They found illegal dumping of solid waste on roadsides, river

banks and on outskirts of towns and cities. Furthermore, they observed improper discharge of

garbage in drains, roads and open spaces which led to poor sanitary conditions, disrupting the

provision of other services.

Existing literature reveal that countries in Africa also face similar problem with regard to

waste management. For example, a study by Babalola, et al. (2010), reported that like many

developing urban cities, Damaturu, also faces a major challenge in waste collection and

management. The study noted that solid waste was dumped indiscriminately in open space

leading to loss of aesthetic nature of the urban landscape. Similarly, a study by Muniafu and

Otiato (2010), found out that Nairobis solid waste sector, is largely characterized by lack of

infrastructures, low coverage, uncontrolled dumping, inefficient collection services, chaotic

or unregulated private sector participation.

The above-mentioned studies have examined a wide range of waste management issues

including disposal and collection. The waste situation in Bhutan remains under-researched

and hence poorly understood. This situation creates a knowledge gap and makes it difficult to

find solutions to the worsening waste situation in the country. Therefore, this study will

provide a useful starting point for addressing the problem of poor waste management in

Thimphu, Bhutan.

23
2.8 Waste Management in Thimphu

Thimphu is the biggest and the capital city of Bhutan. It has a total area of 26 square

kilometers and is situated in between altitudinal range of 2320 and 2648 meters above the sea

level (NSBB 2014). Thimphu serves as the political and economic center of Bhutan. The

population of the city according to Population and Housing Census of Bhutan (PHCB) in the

year 2005 was 98,678 in total, however, according to Thimphu Municipal Authority, the

current population stands at 104000 people, which constitutes about 12.5 percent of total

urban population in Bhutan.

According to annual report (2010) published by Thimphu Municipal Authority, the residents

of Thimphu generates about 50 tons of wastes every day and is projected to increase up to

131 tons by 2030 every day if corrective measures are not taken to reduce the waste as

indicated in the figure 1.

Figure 1: Projection of Municipal Waste Generation in Thimphu

2035
2030
2025
2020
2015
2010
2005
2000
50 65 81 103 131
Source: Thimphu Municipality 2010

24
The report also reveal that the Thimphu Municipality spent a total of about 10 million

Ngultrum3 (BTN) annually (approximately 200,000 USD) only for the purpose of waste

management which accounts for more than 50 percent of the annual budget for Municipality.

The most common mode of household waste collection has been the door to door collection,

however, many districts are also served by community bins where people can directly throw

their waste. The waste management which includes mostly the collection of household and

industrial waste, transportation and disposal are provided free of cost by the Municipality as

public service. The study on Thimphu citys waste composition by the Department of Urban

Development and Engineering Services (DUDES) under the Ministry of Works and Human

Settlement (MoWHS) as shown in figure 2, found out that around 49 percent to be organic,

25 percent paper, 14 percent plastic, 4 percent glass, 3 percent textiles, 0.5 percent metals, 0.4

percent electronic and 4.5 percent to be others.

3
Nu (Ngultrum) is the Bhutan currency. Currently 1 US dollar is equivalent to 65 Bhutanese ngultrum.
25
 Figure 2: Composition of Waste in Thimphu

Source: Based on data from Bhutan National Solid Waste Survey 2008

A study by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP 2012) found out that despite

extensive investment by the Municipality into the existing collection and disposal system, the

service delivery has been very basic and poor. The study also found out that the collection of

waste covers only 80 percent of the city leaving 20 percent unserved. The waste collection

service has also not been homogeneous among districts covered by the Municipality. For

instance, the frequency of collection and type of collection also differed from district to

district depending on the location and accessibility of the road networks. It is also noted that

during rainy season (May-July) as much as 40 percent of the city remain without waste

collection services, which could lead to significant health and environmental problems

(UNDP 2012).

26
2.9 Legal and Policy Framework for Solid Waste Management in Bhutan

In an effort to tackle the growing problem of waste, several government Acts have been

amended that directly or indirectly addresses municipal solid waste management in Bhutan.

Of those, The Waste Prevention and Management of Bhutan 2012 and 2009 (RGoB 2012,

2009), in particular mandates the local municipalities to strictly enforce source segregation of

household waste, promote principle of 3Rs (reduce, recycle and reuse) of waste and disposal

of waste in an environmentally sound manner to sustain human health through protection of

the environment. See Appendix A for detailed description of all the government Acts and

policies amended pertaining to proper waste management in Bhutan.

27
 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Design

An exploratory research design was used in this study. The reason behind the use of

exploratory design was based on the fact that there is very little or no existence of prior

studies in public-private partnership in municipal solid waste management in Thimphu.

Therefore, exploratory design was essentially used in exploring an in-depth understanding of

public-private partnership in municipal solid waste management in Thimphu.

3.2 Selection of Study Areas.

According to Babbie (2014: 217), a study population is that aggregation of elements from

which the sample is actually selected. The population for this study was selected to be

representative of the population diversity of the Thimphu Municipality. Thimphu is divided

into three major zones, north, central and south zones and these zones are further sub divided

into 20 different districts. The Municipal solid waste in Thimphu is managed through

partnership between Thimphu Municipal Corporation and the private company called

Greener Way. However, the partnership operates only in districts of central and south zones.

Hence, the collection, transportation and disposal of household wastes from the districts of

central and south zones is the responsibility of the private waste company, Greener Way,

whereas the collection, transportation and disposal of household wastes from all the districts

within north zone is managed by the Thimphu municipal corporation.

28
Of these 20 districts, a purposive4 sampling technique was used to limit the study sample to

respondents from two districts, namely Dechencholing, one of the districts from the north

zone in which the municipality operates and Changjiji of the south zone in which the private

waste company operates.

The reason for selecting Dechencholing district was essentially motivated by my deep

connection with the place and the people living there. Having spent eight years of schooling

starting 2000 to 2007, I knew the place very well. I have good network of friends and

families living in Dechencholing who are very kind and supportive. Because of this special

relation I share with many of the people in Dechencholing, I was motivated to believe that

people would be honest in their response to my questions which is very important for my

study. I also believed that people would feel more comfortable and welcome me without any

hesitation. With this selection, I do not have to travel to another place which would otherwise

be financially burden and also take lot of time.

The selection of Changjiji was also based on similar reasons. Changjiji was once a paddy

filed with handful of households. Today, Changjiji has developed into one of the biggest and

most populated housing societies in Bhutan. Changjiji was an ideal location for study as most

of the residential buildings are built with proper planning and organization. Residential

building in this study refers to place of domicile with more than one entrance with as many as

four to six households (see figure 4). Every residential building is numbered properly and are

connected with good network of access road which makes movement from one residential

building to another faster and easier. This made locating and the counting of residential

4
Purposive sampling is a type of non-probability sampling in which the units to be observed are
selected on the basis of the researchers judgment about which ones will be the most useful or
representative (Babbie 2014).
29
buildings much easier. The selection of Changjiji as a study area was beneficial to me in

terms of financial cost and time factor. The distance between Dechencholing and Changjiji is

only about 10 kilometers with direct public transport (city bus) every 30 minutes.

The reason for selecting two of the districts, each of which are managed separately by the

Thimphu Municipality and the private company, the Greener Way, was in line with my

research objective. This selection is essential for drawing a comparative analysis of

differences in service delivery by the Thimphu Municipality and the Greener Way by

obtaining the opinions from the residents of both the districts under study.

Figure 3: Map of Study Area

Source: Bhutan Geospatial Portal, Thimphu

30
3.3 Selection of Respondents

I embarked upon counting of all the residential buildings in both the selected districts a week

before the administration of the household questionnaires. I listed a total of 109 and 95

residential buildings in Changjiji and Dechencholing districts respectively. Thus, 109

residential buildings from Changjiji and 95 from Dechencholing district formed the sampling

frames, which made 204 residential buildings in total.

One household was to be selected from every residential building chosen in the sampling

process. The definition for household for this study was adopted from Population and

Housing Census of Bhutan 2005 (PHCB 2005: 421). The term household is defined as

consisting of one or more individuals irrespective of relationship but occupying the same

living accommodation, having common arrangements for food and consuming certain goods

and services collectively.

As I was not able to interview more than a total sum of 101 respondents from selected

households of the two districts (sampling frames), I decided to use systematic random

sampling. In systematic random sampling, the researcher first randomly picks the first

respondent from the sampling frame. Then the researcher selects each nth subject from the

sampling frame. As pointed out by Babbie (2014: 222), the use of systematic random

sampling technique serves as a check on conscious or subconscious bias on the part of the

researcher.

To find n for my particular study, which aimed to interview a total of 101 respondents, I

first calculated the numbers of planned respondents in each district using the following

equation:

31
 = 101 /

Where:

h represents the number of potential respondents in the respective sampling

frame (districts) (109 and 95 respectively).

H represents the sum (total number) of potential respondents in both sampling

frames (204).

A represents the number of planned respondents in the respective sampling

frame.

A equaled 54 planned respondents in Changjiji (101x109/204 = 54) and 47 planned

respondents in Dechencholing. Next, to obtain the regular sampling interval, or "n" as

discussed above in this section, the total number of potential respondents in each sampling

frame (h) was divided by the number of planned respondents to be interviewed in each

sampling frame (A), using the following equation:

n = h/A.

Thus 109 and 95 were divided by 54 and 47 respectively. In both cases n= 2. I thus

interviewed a total of 54 households in Changjiji and of 47 households in Dechencholing,

starting at random and then interviewing one household from every second residential

building in each district.

32
3.4 Data Collection Method

In this study both qualitative and quantitative methods were used. There are many valid

reasons why qualitative and quantitative methodology was combined in this research. Patton

(2002) emphasizes that quantitative and qualitative methods are not simply different ways of

doing the same thing. He argues that, instead, they have different strengths and logics, and

are often best used to address different angles of questions and serve different purposes.

Therefore, the study employed questionnaires, interviews, field observations and

documentary analysis as a methods of data collection.

3.4.1 Household Questionnaire

A semi-structured household survey questionnaire was detailed and was divided into

appropriate sections to collect information from the residents on three different levels

(Appendix B). First, to find out if the partnership between the Thimphu Municipality and the

Greener Way has contributed to improved waste management in Thimphu. Second, to find

out the communitys acceptance of the partnership to manage waste in Thimphu and third, to

find out whether community participation in waste management is encouraged by

municipality and the private company.

The household survey questionnaire was administered in Dechencholing and Changjiji, two

of the twenty districts that make up Thimphu city based on purposive sampling. To carry out

the survey, three research assistants who were undergraduate students on summer vacation

were recruited for five days. Before the commencement of the survey, the research assistants

were given a brief training on familiarization and administering of the questionnaire. They

were also briefed on ethical issues governing the study and were advised to respect at all

33
times. Each one of them were paid Nu.300 (approximately 5 USD per person) per day to

carry out the household survey.

3.4.2 Interview Questionnaire

A formal letter (Appendix 3) was written to the Thimphu Municipal Authority and the private

waste company, Greener Way, requesting for online Skype interview at convenient and

preferred time of the said officials. The letter outlined the purpose and objectives of the study

and the approximate duration it would take.

The open ended questionnaire for the Municipality (Appendix D) was more detailed and was

divided into appropriate sections to address issues specific to their respective roles in waste

management. The themes which were covered by the questions included the waste situation

in the city, resources for waste management, finance, privatization, constraints and

participation. The questionnaire (Appendix E) for the private waste company Greener Way

also covered issues relating to their contracts, finance and logistics, and constraints to their

operations. To establish the authenticity of the responses obtained, a crosscheck via websites

of both the Municipality and Greener Way were carried out.

3.4.3 Field Observation

The field observations undertaken to collect data for this study were largely unobtrusive. It

involved the observation of waste situations and other conditions that could affect waste

management in the study areas such as the layout of the districts and road access within

residential communities. In the course of the field observation, photographs were taken of

waste scenes such as street litter, chocked drains, waste transfer station, waste segregation,

and the disposal site of waste. The field observations were used to compare the actual waste

34
situations in the study areas with the information gathered through interviews, household

questionnaire surveys and documentary analysis.

3.4.4. Documentary Analysis (Secondary Data)

Documentary analysis was useful part of this study. Part of the information for this study was

obtained from documentary sources like government reports, journals and newspaper articles

as well as from electronic sources. As part of the data collection process, these sources were

critically examined for information relating to the issue of solid waste management in the

country. A number of studies related to public-private partnerships and solid waste

management were reviewed to draw relevant data for the study.

3.5 Methods of Data Analysis

Both quantitative and qualitative data were obtained using questionnaires, interviews, field

observation and documentary sources. After cleaning up the data from the household

questionnaire survey, the data were coded and fed into International Business Machines

(IBM) Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 for Windows. Analysis

was undertaken to generate a descriptive picture of the data gathered on themes such as mode

of household waste disposal, household waste segregation at source, frequency of waste

collection, and satisfaction level of residents with the quality of service to answer the first

research question on whether the partnership between the Municipality and the private waste

company Greener Way has led to an improved waste management in Thimphu. It also

covered questions relating to the willingness of the communities to pay for collection service

of their household waste and community support for Greener Way in managing waste in

Thimphu. Simple percentages and means (central tendencies) were used to analyze the

quantitative data obtained from the household questionnaire administration. Microsoft Excel

35
and online sample size calculator played a supporting role for the manipulation of data.

Charts and tables were employed to test certain relationships, trends and behaviors.

The qualitative data obtained from the interview conducted with the officials of the

Municipality and the Greener Way were analyzed manually by making summaries of the

responses and supporting with relevant quotations of the views. The analysis was organized

under themes derived from the data and the research questions that guided the study.

3.6 American Sociological Association (ASA) Citing and References.

As mandated by the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Studies (FSS), Masaryk

University, American Sociological Association Style Guide (ASA), fourth edition for citing

and referencing was used throughout the study.

3.7 Ethical Consideration

While conducting this research, the principle of informed consent was sought. All the

participants were informed about the purpose and the objectives of the study before the

commencement of the interview. The participation was based explicitly on ones willingness

to participate or not in the interview. Participants were informed that their participation in the

interview was optional and they could choose to answer or not answer any questions in the

course of interview. Confidentiality and anonymity issues were also addressed to the

participants in the study. To achieve anonymity of the data gathered from the interview, the

respondents were informed that their names will be kept confidential.

36
 CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Introduction

This chapter essentially presents the empirical results of the household interview conducted

in the study areas of Dechencholing and Changjiji districts. The findings from the household

interview are analysed and presented in three levels according to the research objectives: 1)

To see if the public-private partnership has improved or worsened waste management in

Thimphu, 2) To investigate if residents are in support of the partnership to manage waste in

Thimphu, 3) To find out if community participation in managing waste is encouraged by the

Municipal and the private waste company in Thimphu.

4.2 Background of Respondents

In social science research, information regarding the background or demographic

characteristics of the participants have significant role to play in expressing and giving

responses about the problem. This is very important as it provides assurance that the

participants possess the characteristics needed for the study, thereby giving some validity to

their responses. Keeping this in mind, in this study, a set of personal characteristics namely,

age, sex, marital status, household size, and place of birth of the respondents have been

examined and presented.

37
Table 1: Background Characteristics of the Respondents

Marital Status Gender Born in Thimphu

Household Average
Size Age
Married Single Male Female Yes No

Dechencholing 4 34 91.50% 8.50% 44.70% 55.30% 2.1% 97.9%

79.60
Changjiji 4 33 77.80% 22.20% 40.70% 59.30% 20.40%
%

It is evident from the Table 1 that the average household size of both the Dechencholing and

Changjiji were same with 4 members in a household, which is also the average national

household size of Bhutan according to the Population and Housing Census of Bhutan 2005.

Similarly, the average age of the respondents from the two districts also did not differ much.

As shown in the table the majority of respondents interviewed were of 34 and 33 years old

from Dechencholing and Changjiji respectively, indicating the maturity level of respondents

in understanding the issues relating to waste management. Marital status of the respondents

also did not differ much with majority (91%) and (77%) of the respondents from both the

districts of Dechencholing and Changjiji were married and only handful (8%) and nearly

quarter (22%) of respondents from Dechencholing and Changjiji were single respectively. As

shown in the Table, the gender of the respondents was distributed almost uniformly

indicating the uniformity of the responses from both the male and female.

As shown in the Table 1, of the total respondents investigated for this study, overwhelming

majority (98%) and (80%) of the respondents from Dechencholing and Changjiji districts

were not originally from Thimphu. Only (20%) of the respondents from Changjiji were born

in Thimphu and handful (2%) of the respondents from Dechencholing were originally from

Thimphu, indicating the total number of native population from Thimphu.

38
However, it is not so surprising to find that a good majority of the respondents are not

originally from Thimphu. Because of economic development and job opportunities in the

urban centres of Bhutan, especially bigger cities like Thimphu, the rural urban migration rate

is on the rise today (Also see section 1.2). Thimphu which is the capital city of Bhutan has

been the centre of attraction for thousands of seekers across the country. Arguably, there is a

direct correlation between the high number of migration (internal) and the volume of waste

generation. So it seems likely that high rate of migration of people from across the country to

Thimphu has contributed substantially to the growing issue of waste management.

4.3 Research Objective 1: Extent of improvement in waste management resulting from

public private partnership (PPP)

This section deals with the findings of improvement in waste management resulting from the

partnership between Municipality and the private waste company Greener Way. The findings

are analysed and is presented in terms of the following variables: mode of household waste

disposal, segregation of household waste, frequency of household waste collection in a week,

adherence to scheduled time of household waste collection and overall satisfaction of service.

An analysis of these variables provides an in-depth insight into the extent of improvement in

waste management brought about by public-private partnership between the Thimphu

Municipal and the Greener Way.

4.3.1 Means of Household Waste Disposal

Table 2, shows the method of household waste disposal from the two districts of

Dechencholing and Changjiji. As shown in the Table 2, all (100%) of the respondents from

both districts confirmed of door-to-door disposal of the household waste.

39
 Table 2: Disposal Mode of Household Waste

How is your household waste disposed or collected?

Communal
Door-to-door collection Others
container
Dechencholing 100.00% 0.00% 0.00%
District
Changjiji 100.00% 0.00% 0.00%

4.3.1.1 Discussion

Both the Municipality and private waste company have committed to door to door collection

of household waste in Thimphu. Door to door collection has been an effective approach that

have resulted in high rate of collection of household waste. According to residents of

Changjiji, communal container was common mode of their household waste disposal prior to

privatization of waste collection, however, after Greener Way took over, the communal

containers were removed permanently from all its location. Most of the respondents said that

they use to dump all kinds of mixed wastes, making it very unsightly environment around the

bins and the foul smell it produced was unbearable for the people living near by the bin. The

other problem associated with open community bins according to residents was that it often

was common place for stray dogs, especially when the bins were overfilled with wastes.

4.3.2 Existence of Segregation of Household Waste.

Responses show that segregation of waste at the household level was predominantly

associated with partnership of the public sector with the private sector. As shown in Table 3,

all respondents who indicated they practice some form of segregation were from the

Changjiji district, the district with the private and public sectors collaboration to manage

waste. Of the number, majority (96%) of the respondents indicated this was commenced after

the involvement of the private sector in waste management in the district. Only a hand full

40
(4%) of the respondents were practicing waste segregation prior to the involvement of the

private sector in waste management in the study area. Table 3, indicates that there was no

form of waste segregation being done in Dechencholing district, which is being managed by

the Thimphu Municipality as far as waste is concerned.

Table 3: Segregation Before and After Public-Private Partnership

Do you segregate waste?

Yes No

Before PPP After PPP Before PPP After PPP

District Dechencholing 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%

Changjiji 3.70% 96.30% 0.00% 0.00%

4.3.2.1 Discussions

The findings confirm that prior to privatization of waste collection, there was no form of

waste segregation in Thimphu except for handful of households. The findings suggest that

Municipalitys partnership with the private waste company Greener Way in waste

management has brought an important change in the way waste was managed. With

privatization of waste collection, people have started to segregate household waste at source

which is one of the best practice of proper waste management. However, the waste

segregation is carried out only in the districts managed by the Greener Way. Enforcement of

waste segregation at source has been successful, mainly because of number of initiatives

undertaken by the Greener Way. For instance, the Greener Way does a thorough inspection of

the waste to see if the waste is properly segregated or not (shown in figure 4) before

accepting and if they find mixed waste they either reject the waste or fine them a sum of 500

BTN (approximately 7 USD) on spot. Greener Way has also been distributing polythene bags

free of cost to encourage residents to segregate their waste. It seems likely that segregation of

41
waste at source has contributed significantly to higher recycling and reuse of waste, and most

importantly reduction in the amount of waste being dumped in Memelakha landfill.

Figure 4: Inspection of Household Waste

Source: Greener Way

There are also numerous government Regulations and Acts, for instance, the Waste

Prevention and Management Act of Bhutan 2012 (RGoB 2012), (See Appendix 1), which

mandates the Municipality to enforce rules pertaining to waste segregation at source, safe

disposal and use of 3R principle (reduce, recycle and reuse), however, the municipal

authorities have failed to enforce any of the regulations. This is evident from the findings

from Dechencholing district, where Municipality still collects mixed waste, which eventually

gets dumped at Memelakha landfill. One of respondent interviewed from Dechencholing

district indicated,

42
 I do not segregate because the municipal waste collectors accept mixed waste and
dont say anything. Since they do not object us from throwing mixed wastes, I
have been throwing mixed wastes every time they come to collect [respondent
from Dechencholing district]

The finding that the Thimphu Municipality collects unsegregated waste confirms the study by

Visvanathan and Glawe (2006), who found out that waste was collected without segregation

at the source in most of the South Asian cities and were disposed-off haphazardly in open

dump site. The findings also support the study by Pacione (2009) and Hazra and Goel (2009),

who all pointed out that lack of policy implementation by the municipalities as one of the

reason for poor solid waste management in the countries of the Global South.

4.3.3 Waste Collection Frequency

The responses from the two districts of study area show that the higher frequency of waste

collection is predominately associated with Municipality-Greener Way partnership in waste

management. As shown in the Table 4, where majority (96%) of respondents from Changjiji

district, had their waste collected threes time a week by the private company compared to

twice a week by the Thimphu Municipality for all (100%) of the respondents in

Dechencholing district.

Table 4: Frequency of Waste Collected in a Week

How often is your waste collected in a week?

Once a week Twice a Thrice a Everyday

week week
District Dechencholing 0.0% 100.0% 0.0% 0.0%

Changjiji 1.9% 1.9% 96.3% 0.0%

43
4.3.3.1 Discussion

It is evident from the findings that the Changjiji district get their household wastes collected

three times a week by the Greener Way which is higher compared to twice a week in

Dechencholing district by the Municipality. This finding confirms the study by Savas (1987)

who found out that privatization of residential waste collection led to higher coverage and

increased collection of residential waste as compared to that of the collection by the

municipalities in the United States.

The study conducted on waste composition in urban cities in Bhutan by the Department of

Urban Development and Engineering Services (DUDES) under the Ministry of Works and

Human Settlement (MoWHS), the organic waste accounted for 49 percent, making it the

highest waste composition in Bhutan (See figure 2). This is probably because Bhutan is well

known for organic farming (agro-based economy) which contributes to high consumption of

vegetable and fruits on daily basis. Therefore, owing to high generation of organic waste,

Greener Way collects organic waste twice a week as compared to once a week for inorganic

and other waste.

Because of increased frequency of collection and compulsory segregation policy, residents

from Changjiji say that they have been able to maintain good sanitation at home, especially,

the kitchen. It can be deduced, that, Greener Way has better infrastructure, logistics, finance

and human resource at their disposal as compared to the Municipality who is

undercapitalized. It confirms the study by ADB (2008), that private companies are efficient in

using the available resources effectively to achieve their goal, which in this case is the

improved collection and higher coverage of household waste in Thimphu.

44
It is evident that there is low frequency of collection in Dechencholing by the Municipality,

because of which only limited waste is collected. This in turn has led people to resort to an

inappropriate means of disposing their waste in open space, forests, drains and rives. This

finding confirms the study by Visvanathan and Glawe (2006), that significant amount of the

waste generated in urban centres of South Asian countries remain uncollected. The findings

also confirm to the study by (Pacione 2009; Hazra and Goel 2009; Marshall and Farahbakhsh

2013), who all found out that lack necessary infrastructure, logistics, political will, finance

and human resources necessary for effective waste management results in ineffective waste

management in the countries of the Global South.

4.3.4 Adherence to Time Schedule for Household Waste Collection.

Responses from the two districts of Changjiji and Dechencholing, show that adherence to

scheduled time for household waste collection was predominantly associated with

collaboration of public sector with private company. As shown in Table 5, all the respondent

who indicated high adherence to scheduled time for the household waste collection were

from the Changjiji district. The majority (65%) of respondents confirmed that the service

provider was able to keep up to the agreed time schedule for household waste collection,

however, (35%) of the respondents confirmed that the service provider is not able to keep up

to the agreed time schedule for household waste collection. In Dechencholing district, a

majority, (81%) of the respondents indicated that the Thimphu Municipality as not being able

to keep up to the scheduled time for household waste collection. Only handful (19%) of the

respondents indicated that Thimphu Municipal is able to keep up to the agreed schedule for

household waste collection.

45
 Table 5: Adherence to Timely Collection of Household Waste From The Residents

Is your service provider able to keep to the agreed

schedule for waste collection?
Yes No

Dechencholing 19.1% 80.9%

District
Changjiji 64.8% 35.2%

4.3.4.1 Discussion

The results indicate that comparatively Changjiji receives on time collection of their wastes

compared to Dechencholing. While majority of the respondents interviewed in Changjiji were

satisfied with Greener Ways time adherence to waste collection, there were some who were

not satisfied with the timing, especially among people who had to leave early for job and

couples who were both engaged in a job. A respondent from one such couple commented:

Since our work place is quite far, me and my wife have to start early and by the
time people come to collect wastes we would have already left our place. We
cant keep our waste outside because of stray dogs all around. It is only
convenient for us only during the weekends.

The result however reveals that the residents of Dechencholing are not happy with irregular

timing of waste collection by the Municipality. Some of the respondents revealed that many

times the municipality doesnt come even during the scheduled day for waste collection and

as mentioned above this has resulted in people finding stealthy means of throwing wastes in

the forest, rivers and drains during the night hours. Majority of the residents interviewed from

Dechencholing say that timely and increased frequency of waste collection by the

Municipality would help solve such problems.

It can be deduced that the Municipality has not been able to provide a reliable collection

service as compared to Greener Way, probably because of lack of collection facilities like
46
garbage trucks or the pick-up trucks. The problem is often compounded by frequent break-

down of these facilities due to mechanical failure which often takes long time to get it fixed.

Greener Way, probably has adequate and efficient collection facilities with additional

facilities as back-up alternatives in case of any break-down of such facilities.

4.3.5 The status of Community Cleanliness

Responses show that community cleanliness is associated with the district managed by public

and private sector partnership. As shown in Table 6, all respondents who indicated their

community as clean were from the Changjiji district. Out of the total number of Changjiji, the

majority (70%) of the respondents indicated their community as clean. Only (35%) of the

respondent described their area as dirty. Majority (65%) of respondents from Dechencholing

district, described their community as dirty compared to (30%) of the respondent who

described as clean. However, none of the respondents from both the districts indicated their

community sanitation as Very Clean or Very dirty.

Table 6: Maintenance of Cleanliness of the Surroundings of the Districts

How would you describe your community cleanliness

Very dirty Dirty Clean Very Clean

Dechencholing 0.0% 64.6% 30.2% 0.0%

District
Changjiji 0.0% 35.4% 69.8% 0.0%

4.3.5.1 Discussion

In terms of surrounding cleanliness of the two districts, it is evident from the findings that

Changjiji is comparatively cleaner compared to Dechencholing. The possible reason behind

Changjiji residents describing their district to be clean could be because, as noted earlier,

Changjiji receives timely and higher frequency of waste collection service. They receive

47
three times of scheduled waste collection every week compared to that of two times of often

irregular waste collection service in Dechencholing by the Municipality. It was also evident

from an observation made during my household survey from 15th to 20th of August, 2015. For

instance, in Changjiji, the drains were well maintained with no or with little waste in some

areas, the sanitation around the buildings and surroundings were clean with no litters (see

figure 6) whereas in Dechencholing the drains were clogged with wastes such as pet bottles,

plastics and papers, and the surroundings were not as clean as it is in Changjiji (See figure 7).

Probably, because of lack of regular and less frequency of collection by the Municipality,

residents have resorted to throwing their waste in the drains nearby or elsewhere.

As far as cleanliness is concerned, it important to note that there are many other factors which

contribute to cleanliness of the community such as the level of civic responsibility,

awareness, population size, consumption patternetc. which are directly or indirectly

associated with the maintenance of cleanliness. Therefore, it would be biased to ascertain that

all other districts managed by Greener Way are cleaner than those districts managed by

Municipality.

48
 Figure 5: Changjiji Residential Buildings with Maximum of Four Stories
and Comprises of More Than Four Households.

Source: Authors field work

Figure 6: Drains Clogged with Different Kinds of Waste in Dechencholing Area

Source: Authors field work

49
4.3.6 Overall Satisfaction with Waste Collection Service

By examining the findings from Table, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, it confirms that the improvement in

waste management in Thimphu is associated with partnership of Thimphu Municipality with

the private company Greener Way. This is shown in the Table 7, where majority (80%) of

respondents from Changjiji confirmed high level of satisfactory, while only (20%) of the

respondent indicated the collection service as poor. With Dechencholing district, only little

over quarter (26%) of the respondents confirmed the collection service by the Municipality to

be satisfactory while majority (66%) of the respondent confirmed the collection service to be

poor and (9%) as very poor respectively.

Table 7: Overall Satisfaction with Waste Collection Service

Overall Satisfaction with waste collection service

Very Satisfactory Poor Very Poor

Satisfactory
District Dechencholing 0.0% 25.5% 66.0% 8.5%

Changjiji 0.0% 79.6% 20.4% 0.0%

4.3.6.1 Discussion

It is evident from the findings that overall satisfaction level is comparatively higher among

the districts managed by the Greener Way than the districts managed by the Municipality as

far as waste collection service is concerned. This can be attributed to comparatively reliable,

timely and higher frequency of household waste collection service provided by the Greener

Way compared to often irregular and low frequency of collection by the Municipality as

noted above. However, with almost quarter of respondents from Changjiji describing the

service as poor and unsatisfactory, it seems likely that Greener Way is not able to provide a

uniform collection services to all the residents of Changjiji. A detailed study involving higher

50
number of respondents obtained through stratified random sampling5 of all the districts

managed by the Greener Way would be helpful to confirm the true level of satisfaction

among the residents of Thimphu. And the same case applies to districts managed by the

Municipality.

4.4 Research Objective 2: Community Support for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for

Waste Management in Thimphu.

Cooperation and coordination between the public and private sector is an important

ingredient, however, community support for the partnership is much more important for the

success of partnership in waste management. This section explores the findings on

community support for public-private partnership for waste management in Thimphu. The

findings are analysed and presented at two levels: 1) support for Greener Way in waste

management and willingness to pay waste collection fee by the residents.

4.4.1 Community Support for Greener Way in Waste Management.

Respondents from the two districts of Dechencholing and Changjiji, overwhelmingly

indicated their support for Greener Way. As shown in the Table 8, all (100%) of the

respondents from Changjiji and majority (94%) of the respondent from Dechencholing

welcomed the partnership between Thimphu Municipality and the Greener Way as far as

waste management in Thimphu is concerned. Only a handful (6%) of the respondent from

Dechencholing indicated that they do not support Greener Way for waste management.

5
According to Babbie (2014), stratified random sampling is a method of obtaining greater degree of
representativeness by drawing the sample from homogeneous group (or strata).
51
Table 8: Support for Greener Way by the Residents
Do you support the involvement of Greener Way?

Yes No

Dechencholing 93.60% 6.40%

District
Changjiji 100% 0%

4.4.1.1 Discussion

All of the respondents from Changjiji who supports Green Way indicated that Greener Way

has been providing a satisfactory collection service. They are happy with the new changes

brought in waste collection system by the partnership which have benefited them. One of the

respondent from Changjiji commented:

Greener Way is doing a good job. The collection service they have been
providing us until now is better compared to what we experienced from the
Municipality earlier. Other good thing is that they make people segregate waste
[respondent from Changjiji]

Similarly, majority of the respondents from Dechencholing were of the opinion that

privatization of waste collection is good option and that it will help solve the growing issue of

waste in Thimphu. However, there are also few respondents who were not supportive of this

venture largely because they are of the notion that it is the job of the Municipality office and

also because private organization are profit oriented. One of the respondent commented on

how the privatization of waste collection has affected the local scrap picker,

The scrap pickers who depend on sale of scraps they collect from day to day
from the households are affected by the privatization. After Greener Way took
over waste collection from the Municipality, they collect almost everything and
nothing much is left for those scrap collector [respondent from Dechencholing
district]

The scrap collectors are common in bigger cities like Thimphu and are mostly involved in

collection of wastes which are mostly recyclable such as cans, metals and glass bottles. They
52
make their livelihood out of selling these recyclable waste, but with privatization of waste

collection in Thimphu, it seems likely that it will have adverse effect on their source of

livelihood in future. Therefore, there is a need for the government to come up with holistic

approach to safeguard the interest of many scrap pickers in the city. However, since this

study did not involve any issues related to scrap pickers, nothing much is known, so it may be

biased to conclude on any impact of privatization over scrap pickers. It may require a detailed

study on privatization of waste collection and its impact on local scrap pickers.

4.4.2 Residents Willingness to Pay Service Fee for Waste the Collection Service.

As shown in the Table 9, a promising majority (94%) of the total respondents investigated

for the study in Dechencholing district indicated their willingness to pay the fees for the

collection service compared to (56%) from Changjiji district. Nearly half (44%) of the

respondents from indicated their unwillingness to pay compared to only handful (6%) from

Dechencholing district. However, interestingly, majority of the respondents willing to pay are

from Dechencholing, compared to from Changjiji district. Respondents not willing to pay

service fee from Dechencholing district are very less compared to the respondent from

Changjiji district.

Table 9: Respondents Willingness to Pay

Are you willing to pay waste collection fee for
private company?
Yes No

Dechencholing 93.6% 6.4%

District
Changjiji 55.6% 44.4%

53
4.4.2.1 Discussion

From the findings, it is interesting to note the respondents who indicated their willingness to

pay fee for waste collection service were from Dechencholing district compared to Changjiji.

The collection service at present is free of cost in all the district, however, the collection

service provided by the Municipality has been generally poor compared to Greener Way. The

positive response was likely prompted by the belief that paid services were more effective

and responsive. One of the respondent when asked if he is willing to pay for collection

service commented:

The collection of household waste by the Municipality has been free until now
and if they introduce fee system I will definitely pay as I believe with fee system
the collection service will definitely improve [a respondent from Dechencholing]

It is evident that nearly half of the resident from Changjiji are not willing to pay if the fee

system is introduced for collection service. Many feel that collection service should be free as

public service or should be kept at minimal rate. For instance, one of the respondents from

the Changjiji district commented:

I do not wish to pay because I am already paying the government in the form of
annual tax, the government should pay the private companies from the tax we
pay every year [a respondent from Changjiji]

From the findings, it is certainly difficult to conclude support for public private partnership in

waste management as far as fee is concerned.

4.5 Research Objective 3: Community Participation in Waste Management

Community participation and support for proper waste management is vital for sustainable

waste management at all times. This section explores whether community participation in

waste management is encouraged or not by the Municipality and the private waste company.

54
The findings are analysed and presented in two levels: 1) Public education and awareness

campaigns on waste management, and 2) Organizing voluntary cleaning campaigns to

encourage people in waste management.

4.5.1 Educating Publics on Waste Management Through Awareness Campaigns

As shown in Table 10, overwhelming majority (94%) and (93%) of the respondents from

Dechencholing and Changjiji districts described of having noticed some form of awareness

programme organized by the Municipality and the Greener Way on waste management

compared to handful (6%) and (7%) of respondents who indicated of not being aware of any

awareness programme respectively.

Table 10: Public Education and Awareness Programme for Waste Management
Public education and awareness programme

Yes No

Dechencholing 93.6% 6.4%

District
Changjiji 92.6% 7.4%

4.5.1.1 Discussion

The findings confirm that the general public is well informed and have ideas about some

form of awareness programme organized by the Municipality and the Greener through use of

various mediums. One of the respondent interviewed commented:

We get to see programme related to waste management quite often in television,

Facebook, and in daily newspapers [a respondent from Changjiji]

55
Today it is very common for every urban resident to have a television set at home which they

watch on a daily basis, especially the local news and programme. Social media such as

Facebook and Twitter are also quite popular among many Bhutanese and newspapers are

available on a daily basis. The use of such mediums have been helpful in disseminating

useful information and programme which in this case is on waste management.

4.5.2 Organizing Voluntary Cleaning Campaigns for Public Participation

As shown in the Table 11, approximately half (49%) and (19%) of the respondents from

Dechencholing and Changjiji districts indicated their respective service provider as being

involved in organizing cleaning campaigns. Similarly, (40%) and majority (70%) of the

respondents from Dechencholing and Changjiji districts describes both Municipality and

private waste company as being involved in organizing cleaning campaigns respectively.

However, small number (11%) of the respondents from both the districts feel that voluntary

clean campaigns are organized by others.

Table 11:Organizing Cleaning Campaigns

Who organizes voluntary cleaning campaign

Municipality Private Company Both Others

Dechencholing 48.9% 0.0% 40.4% 10.6%

District
Changjiji 0.0% 18.5% 70.4% 11.1%

4.5.2.1 Discussion

It confirms that both the Municipality and Greener Way are involved in organizing cleaning

campaigns quite often to encourage voluntary participation among the publics. A small

number, probably, individuals, groups, NGOsetc. are also involved in organizing cleaning

campaigns as well. For instance, according to a recent report by the national newspaper,

56
Kuensel6, some 121 volunteers from Tashi InfoComm7 collected about 240 sacks of waste

along the Thimchhu (Thimphu river) which runs through the city. It is quite common in

Bhutan that academic institutions and NGOs are often involved in organizing campaigns such

as this to create general awareness on proper waste management.

6
Kuensel is the national newspaper of Bhutan
7
Tashi InfoComm is a private mobile company in Bhutan
57
 CHAPTER FIVE: INTERVIEWS: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

5.1 Introduction

This section presents the findings from the online Skype interview conducted with the

officials from the Municipality and the Greener Way. Mr. Phub Tshering, an environmental

officer represented Thimphu Municipality and the interview was conducted on February 20,

2016, which lasted for about 50 minutes (see Appendix D) However, several follow-up

emails and calls had to be made to clarify on certain issues relating infrastructure, logistics

and financing. Mr. Subash Sharma, the chief strategy officer of Greener Way was

interviewed on February 25, 2016, which lasted approximately about 45 minutes (see

Appendix E).

The responses obtained from the respective officials from the interview were analysed

manually by making summaries of the responses and supporting with relevant quotations of

their views. The analysis is organized and presented under eight main themes, i) The waste

situation in Thimphu, ii) The Greener Way, local private waste company, iii) Institution of

public private partnership (PPP), and iv) General terms and condition of the contract, v)

Infrastructural strength, vi) Financial cost, vii) Outcome of the partnership and, viii)

Promoting community participation for sustainable waste management.

5.2 The Waste Situation in Thimphu

According to Mr. Phub Tshering, waste management is not just an issue with Thimphu alone

but also with other urban cities in Bhutan. He pointed out that waste generation over the last

decade has increased drastically in Thimphu mainly because of the increase in population and

58
rapid urban expansion. This problem according to him is further compounded by lack of civic

responsibility and ignorance of the urban residents, inadequate infrastructure, and

additionally, lack of adequate staffs under waste department and poor enforcement of

regulation by the Municipality. The Municipality seem to be over burdened with lot of other

public enterprises to look after. For instance, the water sector, the construction, maintenance

and planning sectors.

According to record maintained by the Municipality, the daily waste generation is estimated

to be about 50 tons. This estimation is calculated based on the volume and density of every

truck load of waste dumped at Memelakha landfill, however, in absence of weighbridge 8 the

exact quantity of waste generated cannot be confirmed. The lack of accurate data on waste

generation can affect the planning and effective organization of solid waste management in

the city.

5.3 Greener Way, Local Private Waste Company

Greener Way is a small, local and committed private waste company founded by group of

like-minded Bhutanese individuals who were worried with the growing issue of mounting

waste generation in Thimphu in 2010. Greener Way was established with the mission of

reducing reliance on landfills and incineration through the establishment of reuse and

recycling programs. This is accomplished by developing an integrated solid waste

management system that is implemented in an environmentally sound, technically feasible,

cost effective and publicly acceptable manner.

8
Weighbridge is a machine for weighing vehicles, set into the ground to be driven on to.
59
According to Mr. Subash Sharma, Greener Way has an excellent educational outreach

program like educating Bhutan on waste management that involves classroom presentations,

environmental workshops, public displays and exciting contests. Greener Way has a unique

partnership with all the schools and institutions across the country. Greener Way has

employed over 75 Bhutanese over the last five years and has remained true to its mission to

protect environment, to create employment and to boost the local economy in their own ways.

5.4 The Public Private Partnership (PPP)

According to Mr. Phub Tshering, due to inadequate infrastructure, insufficient financial and

scarce human resources, the Municipality has struggled to deliver effective and efficient

waste collection service to the public. Owing to difficult terrain, some districts in Thimphu

were inaccessible, hence, the Municipality was not able to provide any sort of waste

collection service in such areas. The study by IOB (2013), suggest that public-private

partnerships were opted as suitable alternatives by public officials, when there is lack of

adequate financial resources and are suitable arrangements for promoting public goals.

Thimphu Municipality in its effort to improve its service, have sought to adopt public private

partnership and have contracted waste management to Greener Way in 2014, however,

Greener Way started operating only from the beginning of 2015.

5.5 General Terms and Condition of the Contract

The public office of Thimphu Municipality and the private waste management company, the

Greener Way signed a service contract for a period five years. The key contractual

obligations and responsibilities of the private company is to collect, segregate and transport

the waste to transfer station. The private company also has the sole ownership rights to any

recyclable waste materials in its jurisdiction, however, in the event of any hazardous

60
conditions including fires, explosions, gas releases, spills associated with waste management,

both Municipality and Greener Way are jointly responsible for handling the crisis

appropriately to protect the health and safety of all workers as well as the general public. The

Municipality is responsible for providing all the infrastructure necessary and funds any

capital investments required for expansion or construction of new facility. The private partner

(Greener Way) is responsible for performing the task in accordance with the standards set in

the contract at an agreed cost of 1 million Ngultrum (approximately about 15,385 USD) per

month. In case of failure to perform the duty or negligence of the contractor the Municipality

shall impose penalty for the services not performed.

The Municipality has the right to terminate the contract, if the private partner commits an

irremediable breach of any of its obligations under the Contract which includes unauthorized

subcontracting to a third party, failure to maintain permits or licenses, failure to provide and

maintain sufficient labour and equipment for execution of the work, failure to commence

work on time or in case of bankruptcy. An important terms of contract is pertaining to wage

and safety issue of labourers. It mandates private company to comply with the minimum

labour wage, health and safety guidelines of the Ministry of Labour and Human Resource of

Bhutan. Under this contract, Greener Way can buy necessary equipment required for waste

management purpose at their own expense, however the Municipality has the right to inspect

those purchased and on any planned purchases of equipment to make sure they are

environmentally friendly.

The Municipalitys service contract with Greener Way for five years is an ideal contract for

municipal solid waste management in Thimphu. The duration of contract is not too short nor

too long which gives the Municipality strong bargaining position. Contracts that are of long

61
duration have not worked well and is often involved in conflict with the Municipality and the

general public, especially because of high service charges they demand from the public. For

example, Cochabamba water service which was granted 40-year concession did not last long

because of the conflict between the Cochabamba community and the private companies over

unaffordable service charges the private companies demanded.

5.6 Infrastructural Strength: Municipality vs Greener Way

Thimphu Municipality has about 24 employees working under the department of solid waste

management which includes engineers, environmental officer, administrative staffs, drivers

and garbage haulers. For the collection and transportation of waste, the Municipality has only

four garbage trucks, two garbage haulers and five drivers. Lately the Municipality has

acquired a plastic, paper and pet bottle recycling plants. On the other hand, Greener Way, has

about 77 employees most of whom are drivers and garbage haulers. Greener Way has 13

garbage trucks in total for collection and transportation of waste which are all hired from

Municipality. This makes a significant difference in the frequency of collection and allows

Greener Way to meet the demands of high rate of waste production.

5.7 Financial Cost

According to Mr. Phub Tshering, prior to privatization of waste collection, the Municipality

used to spend about 13 million Ngultrums (BTN), which is equivalent to 200,000 USD,

annually. However, from the total budget allotted for solid waste management in the 2015-

2016 fiscal year of 16 million BTN (approximately 246,154 USD), the Municipality pays a

monthly fee of 1 million BTN (approximately 15385 USD) amounting to 12 million BTN

(184,615 USD) in a year to the private company. The balance amount of 4 million Ngultrums

62
will be used for collection and disposal of waste by the municipal corporation as well as for

operation and maintenance of Mekelakha landfill.

The expenditure on waste management as noted above, has increased very significantly with

privatization of waste management. The amount of 12 million Ngultrum that the Municipality

pays to Greener Way for two zones in a year, is approximately equivalent to the amount spent

for all the zones in the year 2014 to 2015. As noted earlier in the literature, cost saving has

been one of the main reason for adopting to public private partnership model for various

project implementations, however, Thimphu Municipality has not benefited from the

partnership with Greener Way as far as expenditure is concerned.

5.8 Outcome of Partnership

The public private partnership has resulted in a more integrated waste management system

where the beneficiaries are generally satisfied with the services provided. Greener Way has

been able to provide timely and increased collection service. This has allowed

discontinuation of use of the communal bins which were common mode of household waste

storage at source. It was noted that communal bins were of air pollutions giving out foul

smells creating unpleasant environment for residents and as well as passers-by. Another

important initiative has been the inspection of waste on a daily basis and imposition of fine of

500 Ngultrums (approximately about 7 USD) for those who fail to segregate their waste. For

the convenience of people who go to work early morning, Greener Way has recently started

evening collection of waste which may be accessed by the residents by registering for

service. When asked about Greener Way and service delivery, Mr. Phub Tshering, the

environmental officer commented:

63
 The service provided by Greener Way has been very good indeed. They have
been able to introduce source segregation after taking up the collection service
which the Thimphu municipal wasnt able to implement yet. Now, all the
households in central and south zone are segregating their waste which has been
a big achievement for us. We also got good feedbacks from the residents
regarding their service quality.

The partnership between the Municipality and Greener Way has worked well and has

contributed to significant improvement in waste management in Thimphu. This has been

possible because as discussed above, Greener Way is a rather special kind of organization,

small and motivated to help solve the problem of growing waste and save environment.

5.9 Promoting Community Participation in Waste Management

Public participation for proper waste management has been the key agenda for both the

Municipality and the Greener Way to ensure clean and sustainable environment. Therefore,

various initiatives are taken to encourage public participation in waste management by both

the Municipality and Greener Way. The official from Greener Way commented:

Every year on March 8, which is the anniversary of the founding of the Greener
Way, we conduct a huge awareness and educational campaign for two weeks. We
visit various schools and do presentation on importance of proper waste
management and its issues.

According to Mr. Phub Tshering, the Municipality is also involved in organizing voluntary

cleaning campaigns time to time. Apart from organizing cleaning campaigns, the

Municipality has been providing garbage trucks, rug sacks and disposable gloves for free to

the organizers and volunteers involved in cleaning campaigns.

64
 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

6.1 Introduction

This chapter presents a summary of the research findings and suggests way forward for

improvement in waste management based on the findings of the study.

6.2 General Discussion and Conclusion

Over the last decade, indefinite urban expansion, increase in population and change in

consumption pattern of people have contributed to an increased waste generation in Thimphu.

Thimphu Municipality has been struggling to provide effective and efficient service to the

residents, however, with the privatization of waste management which includes collection,

segregation and transportation, the waste management has improved significantly. Some of

the important improvements have been the implementation of waste segregation at source,

timely and increased frequency of waste collection, and door to door collection system. Such

improvement in waste management has contributed significantly to increased recycling and

use of waste, and reduction in the volume of waste being dumped at Memelakha landfill.

Another positive outcome of this partnership, is the employment opportunity generated for

the garbage haulers.

Although public private partnership is highly contested topic over its feasibility, the

partnership between the Thimphu Municipality and Greener Way has worked well and

achieved a significant improvement in waste management. These finding confirm the study

by Kikeri and Nellis (2004), who found out that privatization will lead to improvement of

65
welfare if it is implemented appropriately with firm regulatory framework, transparency and

introducing mechanisms to ensure that the poor have access to affordable essential services.

The downside of this public private partnership is the significant increase in the expenditure.

It may not be sustainable in future, if the expenditure continues to rise. However, this

disparity may be explained in terms of the value of the services offered and the protection of

environment due to improved waste management system. Further, it can be argued that the

budget assigned for waste management in the past were inadequate to adopt to and implement

an integrated waste management system, which could adversely affect public health and

environment in the long run if left unchecked.

With increase in expenditure, it seems likely that the Municipality will introduce fee system

in future. However, it is important for the Municipality to have access to the budget of the

Greener Way and the amount of profit they make annually by recycling or selling of

recyclable waste. This will enable the Municipality in understanding the financial status of

the Greener Way and in deciding on whether to introduce fee system or not. For example,

according to report by DNES, a daily Czech newspaper, it is mandatory for the Czech water

companies to disclose their annual costs and profits to the government without failing.

As mentioned by one of the respondents, another possible downside of this public private

partnership could be its impact on local scrap pickers. With Greener Way officially owning

all the waste and collecting recyclable as well as non-recyclable waste, it seems likely that the

livelihood of scrap pickers in Thimphu are affected. Therefore, there is a need for

government to carry out a detailed survey to confirm and find out their problems, and come

up with feasible solution to safeguard their livelihood. The Municipality should either employ

66
them or make Greener Way employ them. The other solution could be to allow the scrap

pickers to collect any recyclable waste from any district without any restrictions.

6.3 Recommendations

1. Since the cost of an effective system is high, the beneficiaries and the government

must share the waste management cost since government alone cannot meet the

financial obligation for waste management, however, the fee should be kept minimal

which is affordable by all.

2. The Municipality should enforce waste segregation at source with immediate effect to

enhance greater recycling and reuse of waste for alternative purpose.

3. In absence of adequate garbage truck and garbage haulers to collect waste, the

Municipality should revert to communal bin collection system, so that people will not

throw their waste discriminately in open spaces, drains or rivers.

4. Memelakha landfill has been overflowing with waste for many years, therefore there

is a need for the Municipality to build a new landfill as soon as possible.

5. To design and implement an integrated waste management system, appropriate

technologies and infrastructural setups for solid waste management such as recycling

and composting plants and weighbridge must be employed to determine exact volume

of waste being dumped at the Memelakha landfill.

67
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 APPENDIXES

Appendix A: Legal and Policy Framework for Solid Waste Management in Bhutan.

1. Waste Prevention and Management Act of Bhutan, 2012

The Waste Prevention and Management Act of Bhutan of 2012 (RGoB 2012) is a

comprehensive regulation for the waste minimization and management. It establishes

various agencies and monitoring authorities for the effective implementation of this

regulation. The Act mandates, i) the Municipality to safely handle, store and dispose

hazardous or infectious waste without endangering the person or the environment, ii)

every household to have separate closed container for biodegradable and non-

biodegradable for the efficient waste segregation, iii) restriction of sanitary landfill or

open dump site in certain locations such as within a distance in or around human

settlements, near water catchment areas, rivers, wetlands or ground water sources,

landslide prone areas, notified area of endangered wildlife habitation and near

monuments, and iv) the formulation of appropriate mechanisms to prevent and control

the waste and nuisance caused by stray domestic animals

1. Waste Prevention and Management Act of Bhutan, 2009.

The Prevention and Management act of Bhutan 2009 (RGoB 2009) was essentially

adopted to protect and sustain human health through protection of the environment

by, i) reducing the generation of waste at source, ii) promoting the segregation, reuse

and recycling of Wastes, iii) disposal of waste in an environmentally sound manner,

and iv) effective functioning and coordination among implementing agencies.

The Prevention and Management Act of 2009 reiterated on the use and

implementation of Principle of 3Rs and waste minimization which includes, to

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 reduce the generation of waste, reuse products and packaging materials and recycle

material from waste for production of new and useful products, to avoid and use of

substitute products or unnecessary packaging that generate waste, and to treat and

dispose waste in an appropriate way to reduce harm on human health and the

environment.

2. National Environment Protection Bill of Bhutan, 2007

The National Environment Protection Bill of Bhutan 2007 (NEC 2007), does not

specify solid waste management, however, it identified principle of 3Rs which aims

to reduce environment change and risk and the polluters pay principle which

mandates a person to pay for collection and disposal of wastes.

3. Rules and Regulations for Thimphu Municipal Solid Waste Management

(MoWHS, 2007);

The rules and regulation were framed to promote sound environmental practices in

solid waste management in urban areas, ensure efficient segregation, collection,

transport, storage, and safe disposal of solid waste, promote Reduce, Reuse and

Recycle (3Rs) in Solid Waste Management, establish Polluter Pays Principle (PPP)

by charging service fee for solid waste collection and disposal, and introduce and

implement system of warnings and fines on people for littering and illegally dumping

solid waste.

4. National Strategy and Action Plan: Integrated Solid Waste Management

The National Strategy and Action Plan: Solid Waste Management 2007a (MoWHS

2007) was developed with support from the United Nations Environment Programme

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 (UNEP) has explicitly defined the 3Rs and elaborately discussed the present situations

of waste management. It has highlighted on the non-existence significant waste

recycling plants in the country. The document highlights that Thimphu City

Corporation had large budget deficits every year and has no solid waste management

services fee collection system exist. It has also pointed out that the public-private

involvement system prevails only for some ad-hoc public awareness and cleaning

campaigns. However, the strategy and action plan did not identify specific 3R options

to address the highlighted problems.

5. Final Draft of Thimphu City State of Environment

The Final Draft of Thimphu City State of Environment 2007b (MoWHS 2007), report

shows that the government is aware and concerned about the emerging solid waste

management problems. The report has noted the overflowing status of the current

landfill site and suggested to enhance recycling options to reduce load level on the

landfill by at least 50%. Privatization of the MSW management has been identified as

a viable option to encourage public-private partnership.

6. United Nations Environment Programme: State of the Environment, Bhutan

2001.

This report essentially highlights on the state of solid waste management to draw the

attention of the decision makers. The report found out the bigger states like Thimphu

and Phuentsholing had serious problem of waste management and needed prompt

action from the concerned authorities. The report made series of recommendation

which includes, i) to develop separate solid waste management rules and more

specific guidelines, ii) to improve the existing collection service structure to provide

75
 community waste bins, iii) to promote door-to-door collection system through active

involvement of various stakeholders such as private entrepreneurs, NGOs and the

municipal corporation, iv) separate handling of infectious and hazardous waste

generated by health care facilities, v) to dispose biodegradable matter either by

employing technologies such as aerobic composting and anaerobic digestion or by

sanitary landfilling, and viii) develop nation-wide data inventory for waste generation,

handling, and treatment.

7. Bhutan Municipal Act, 1999 (RGoB);

Municipal solid waste management in Bhutan is under the responsibility of the local

municipal authorities as stipulated in Bhutan Municipal Act of 2009 (RGoB 2001).

This act mandates that the local municipal authorities as responsible for collecting,

transporting and disposing municipal solid waste as public service. Probably first of

its kind, this Act does not address important issues relating to waste segregation or

use of 3Rs principles either.

Appendix B: Household Survey Questionnaire

Dear Residents,

I am doing currently a masters student at Masaryk University, Czech Republic. As part of

my masters study, I am doing a study on public-private partnership in waste management in

Thimphu. As a resident of this city your views and ideas are considered very important for

the success of this study and it would be very much appreciated if you could spend a little

time to answer this questionnaire. The responses of this interview will be kept anonymous.

Thank you for your kind support.

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Section A (Background Information)

1. Name

2. Sex.

3. Age

4. Marital Status:

Single [ ] Married [ ] Divorced [ ]

5. Number of people in the house.

6. Where you born in Thimphu?

Yes [ ] No [ ]

Section B (Improvement in Waste Management).

7. Is waste management a problem in Thimphu city today? Why?

Has your own waste production increased or decreased during the last five years?

Why?

8. Do you segregate your waste? (If No, skip and go to Q13)

Yes [ ] why.

No [ ] why..

9. Since when did you start segregating waste?

2012 [ ] 2013 [ ] 2014 [ ] 2015 [ ]

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10. Who provided the segregation bins?

Municipality [ ] Self [ ] Private Company [ ]

11. What are some of common waste found in your house? How often you generate

them?

12. How is your household waste disposed?

Waste collection service Yes No

Door-door/home collection

Communal Container

Other (Please specify)

12. How often is your waste collected in a week?

..

13. Is your service provider able to keep to the agreed schedule for waste collection?

Yes [ ]

No [ ]

14. What time does the waste collection begin?

......

15. What is the distance you travel to dump your waste into community bin? (E.g.

distance in metre)

......

16. How would you describe the sanitation around the waste containers?

Very Satisfactory [ ]

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 Satisfactory [ ]

Poor [ ]

Very Poor [ ]

17. How will you describe the overall satisfaction of waste collection service you receive?

Very Satisfactory [ ]

Satisfactory [ ]

Poor [ ]

Very Poor [ ]

18. How would you describe the cleanliness of your community?

Very dirty [ ]

Dirty [ ]

Averagely clean [ ]

Very clean [ ]

Section C (Community Support in Waste Management)

19. Do you pay for the collection service?

Yes [ ]

No [ ]

Are you willing to pay for your waste collection service?

Yes[ ] Why?

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 No [ ] Why?

..........................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................

20. Do you support the involvement of Greenway in waste management?

Yes [ ]

Why?

..............................

No [ ]

Why?

..

Section D (Community participation in waste management)

21. Do the Municipality or the private waste company provide general public education or

awareness programme on issues related to waste management?

Yes [ ] How.

No [ ]

22. Have you noticed any voluntary cleaning services being organized?

Yes [ ]

No [ ]

23. Who organises such cleaning programme?

The Municipal [ ]

The private company [ ]

Both [ ]

Others (Please specify)

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Section E (What can be done to improve waste management in Thimphu?)

24. In your view, how or what can be done to improve waste management in this city?

25. Do you have any further comments or questions regarding this discussion?

...

..

Appendix C: Request for Interview

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am a graduate student at Masaryk University, Czech Republic. As part of my masters

programme, I am carrying out a study on the Public-Private Partnership in waste management

in Thimphu. As a stakeholder in the waste sector, your views are important in this study. I

would be grateful if you could grant me an interview on this important topic. The interview

will take approximately 30 minutes. The response of this interview will be kept anonymous.

Appendix D: Interview with the official of the Thimphu Municipality

Section A (Background Information)

1. Name..

2. Department/Division..

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3. Position/Rank.

4. Year of establishment.

Section B: Waste Management

5. Situation of waste and challenges in Thimphu:

Please share if waste management has become an issue today in Thimphu. If so,

why do you think its a problem

6. Collection coverage and quantity:

Does the municipal collection service cover the whole city or part of it?

What is the frequency of collection in a week?

Are you able to determine the quantity of solid waste collected in a day for

disposal? Is the percentage of waste generated same now as compared to 3 years

back?

7. Budget allocation/Financial cost involved:

If you could share on budget allocation and financial cost involved in collection

and disposal of waste. Are you able to manage within the allotted budget?

(Management includes collection, disposal or anything related to waste

management)

8. Human resource engaged:

Could you share on number departmental officers, engineers, site supervisoretc.

particularly involved in waste management.

9. Infrastructural strength (equipment such as Pick-up trucks, excavator, and recycling

plants)

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 Could you please share the number of different equipment that are in operation or

acquired for collections and disposal? (Example, Pick-up trucks, excavatoretc.)

How many recycling plant are in operation?

10. Waste dump site:

How many dump sites are in operation? What is its capacity? What is the distance

from the city area? Who and how is it treated and maintained?

Section C: Public-Private Partnership (PPP) of Waste Management

11. Public-private partnership:

What prompted the involvement of the private sector in waste management in

Thimphu?

12. How are contracts/franchises awarded? And what is the duration of the contract?

13. What were the terms and condition of the contract between municipal & private

contractor?

14. Are responsibilities of both public and private parties in the agreement clearly stated?

15. Institutional framework of PPP (how PPP model works, can be in chart form)

16. Financial cost involved:

How much does the partnership cost? What are the terms of payment? (Example,

Daily weekly or monthly basis)

Can you give the statistics of how much was the expenditure on waste

management before PPP? (has the expenditure increased or decreased with this

partnership)

17. Assessment/evaluation:

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 How do you evaluate the efficiency of Greener way or how is the performance

monitored? How satisfied are you with their service?

Section D: Community participation in waste management.

18. Could you share on Municipals involvement in developing strategies and

mechanisms to explore or enhance community participation in waste management?

How effective/ineffective has it been? (For example, support individual voluntary

groups, institutions, NGOs volunteering communal labour)

Section E: What can be done to improve waste management in Thimphu?

19. In your view, how or what can be done to improve or further improve waste

management in this city?

20. Do you have any further comments or questions regarding this discussion?

Appendix E: Interview with the official of the private waste company Greener Way.

Section A: Background Information

1. Name..

2. Department/Division.....

3. Position/Rank.

4. Year of establishment

Section B: Waste Management

5. What was the situation of waste in Thimphu when you took over or started? What are

some of the reasons behind your participation in waste management?

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6. Collection coverage - Which communities/areas do you operate in? (please provide a

list or map if available)

7. What type of partnership arrangement or contract(s) are you operating under and the

duration?

8. What are the responsibilities/duties under the terms of reference of contract?

9. Budget allocation/Financial cost involved how much does it cost?

10. Human resource engaged

11. Infrastructure strength (equipment such as Pick-up trucks, excavator,

treatment/disposal facilities and recycling plants)

Section C: Community participation in waste management.

12. Could you please share on Greener Ways involvement in educating and developing

strategies and polices to support and explore community participation in waste

management? (How effective/ineffective has it been)

Section D: Suggestions for improvement in waste management in Thimphu.

13. In your view, how or what can be done to improve or further improve waste

management in this city?

14. Do you have any further comments or questions regarding this discussion?

85