Municipal solid waste management is a problem that is experienced by all counties in the world. Because of its nature, it has remained one of the major environmental problems man continues to face. Municipal solid waste management is considered as one of the most serious environmental and social problems challenging municipal authorities in developing countries. One of these impacts is raised from location of dumping site in unsuitable areas. This paper deals with selection of suitable site for the disposal of municipal solid waste generated from Jigjiga Municipality using GIS techniques.The existing open dumping systems in the town are not environmentally sound and socially acceptable as wastes have been dumped in inappropriate sites. The present study had integrated environmental and socio-economic criteria like proximity to road networks, distances from residences and important built up areas; surface water (river), boreholes and reservoirs to select the most suitable landfill site in the study area. The result reveals that out of five candidate landfill sites, a site with reasonable size (24 ha), at optimum distance from residences (4.8 km) and accessible to the major roads (1 km) was nominated as the most suitable site.
Keywords: : GIS, Landfill site selection, Solid waste management
