Management of communications for waste management campaigns of sub-district municipalities in Phatthalung Province

Abstract

        The objectives of this research were to study the sub-district municipalities that have received awards for waste management in Phatthalung province, focusing on the issue of campaign management and communication in terms of 1) plans and policies for communication management; 2) methods of communication in the campaigns; 3) factors of success; and 4) problems, obstacles and recommendations.

        This was a qualitative research using in-depth interviews for data collection. The key informants were people involved in waste management at 5 sub-district municipalities, including mayors, municipal permanent secretaries, academics in charge of environmental public health, policy and planning analysts, heads of the directorate office, and personnel, with people coming from each sub-district municipalities, for a total of 18. The research tool was a semi-structured interview form. Data were analyzed by drawing conclusions.

        The results showed that 1) every sub-district municipality had a plan and policy of holding a waste management campaign, but they differed depending on the concepts of the mayors. However, they did not have clearly stated campaign communications management plans. 2) The campaign communications were structured and the communications activities were delegated from the office of the permanent secretary of the sub-district municipality. They employed methods to persuade citizens to participate by offering benefits to people who brought their waste to the waste bank, offering high prices for recyclables, waiving rubbish collection fees for those who recycled, giving out free gifts at activities, exchanging eggs for hazardous waste, building understanding by making community visits, collecting information, listening to residents’ problems, holding training sessions to educate people on different types of recyclable waste and waste management methods, making art projects out of waste materials, playing music at rubbish collection time, visiting door-to-door, and supporting local youth in staging puppet shows about waste management. 3) The factors of success were continuity and frequency of visits to the communities by personnel, having a network of allies, and choosing the right target groups. 4) The problem faced by every sub-district municipality was trash separation. The major obstacle was opposition from citizens who felt that waste management should be the responsibility of the municipality, and not a burden for residents. Policy recommendations are (a) a budget should be set aside for campaign operations and for making a proper campaign communications plan; (b) personnel should go and visit people in communities often to remind them of the importance of waste management; (c) the actual community leaders in each community should be identified and recruited to help; (d) communities should write community constitutions and be involved in the campaign communications; (e) communications should focus on changing people’s attitudes.