| dc.description.abstract | Wastes continue to contaminate and degrade the environment causing problems of global warming, pollution, depleting natural resources, poverty, diseases and conflicts. These problems will continue to persist unless measures are taken to properly manage environmental programs. There is a need to ensure proper management of environmental project so as to address environmental degradation which leads to environmental problems such us global warming, climate changes, diseases, disasters, poverty and conflicts. The study was conducted to address the problem of poor management of projects to make them manageable, minimize problem arising and contribute to sustainable use and conservation of our environment.
The objectives of the study were to establish whether financing, qualified personnel, stakeholder participation, partnerships between local councils and NGOs and public awareness are factors influencing management of projects. Research questions were drawn from objectives and they sought to determine the extent financing, staff qualification, stakeholder's participation, partnerships between councils and NGOs contributed to project management. The study used descriptive research design supported by quantitative and qualitative approaches. The target population was permanent employees of the Masaba Town Council who were sampled, stratified and randomly drawn on the basis of departments of the councils.
Out of 530 permanent employees of the council, a representative sample of 30% was selected. Questionnaires, interviews schedules and observations were used to collect data for the study. These were most appropriate because questionnaires enabled respondents answer and fill information required confidentially and easily at their own time whereas observation gave the researcher opportunity to physically check on the existing status of projects and variables and record findings.
The study found that management of environmental projects depended on qualified staff, adequate financing and prioritizing environmental projects when allocating funds in the council's budget, participation of stakeholders in projects and partnerships with NGOs in undertaking projects. The study used descriptive analysis in analyzing data. The factors were ranked and analyzed in order of their significance and finally presented using tables.
The study's contribution to the body of knowledge is in terms of empowering local councils to freely generate revenue to fund environmental projects so as to reduce over reliance on central government, formulation of policies to employ qualified manpower to manage environmental projects in local councils, removal of monopoly of local council in undertaking environmental projects and embracing stakeholder, public and community participation in environmental conservation efforts within local authorities in Kenya. The study recommends adequate financing, stakeholder participation, partnering with NGOs and public awareness to address the problem of mismanagement of projects. | en_US |
