**3.4 Assessment of sustainability of operation**

Presently, the private operators are operating independently without assistance or cooperation from the government or communities. They are registered companies that operate like any other profit making Liability Company because late last year some of the private companies started selling shares to its customers in their area of operation. In other words they have their institutional arrangements with their customers for the total management, operation and maintenance. Thereafter, profit will be shared among those that subscribe into the business, although they do not have support arrangements or external influences or inputs from outside the community they served. The practice as of now can only collapse when the commitment of the owners (owner and customers) is no more there or the government commits enough finance to its agency responsible for solid waste collection and disposal. And from the look of things these conditions are not realistic considering the enormous responsibility the government shoulder on a daily basis.

With my several personal visits to the operation areas as well as the company offices, I can out rightly say that in the area of cost recovery these private waste stakeholders are effective and that is the reason the companies are being sustained up to the present time. In order to ensure sustainability of their operation, new entrants of the operators are at the moment being registered by the newly created Kano State Ministry of Environment. The operators can also get loan facilities from banks and other financial institutions in Kano metropolitan or even from the government because they are registered firms. It has been claimed that the private operators primarily cater to middle- and upper-class residents [16]. The old institutional setup may need to be changed for greater efficacy if they are to function well in the city's low-income neighborhoods. This alteration may take the form of private companies collecting and disposing of the solid waste from these locations; the state government, the local government, and the affected communities would then split the cost. The state and LGA should be in charge of developing and implementing the policy in order for this to be effective. The roles and duties of the stakeholders should also be clearly stated. The government, after giving a monopoly right to individual franchisees, also provides enforcement, adequate supervision and maintenance of disposal sites [17].

The above can be achieved by setting up of an effective community mobilization strategies whose responsibility is to provide awareness on the importance of sanitary habits; establish a system of cost sharing formula between the state/LGA/ communities for the implementation; where to source for funds that can be used to accelerated implementation of the program me; contribute financial and material support to LGAs and communities; and facilitate construction and monitor implementation. The community's responsibilities as solid waste stakeholders will also include mobilization and motivation of community members on the need for good sanitary habits through solid waste hierarchy concept of on-site source recovery and recycling of waste, identify and cost the resources needed for solid waste management hierarchy and sanitation activities within area of operation; ensure that households contribute financially, provide material support to households and monitor implementation of the whole operation until success is finally achieved in both recovery, recycling, collection and final disposal of refuse. **Figure 1** shows proper recovery and recycling of MSW by the operators at the operators temporal waste storage facilities.
