CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Household solid waste is one of the most difficult sources of solid waste to manage because of its diverse range of composite materials (Huntley, 2010). A substantial portion is made up of garbage, a term for the waste matter that arises from the preparation, and consumption of food and consists of waste food, vegetable peelings and other organic matter (Slack, Gronow & Voulvoulis, 2005). Other components of household solid waste include plastics, paper, glass, textiles, cellophane, metals and some hazardous waste from household products such as paint, garden pesticides, pharmaceuticals, fluorescent tubes, personal care products, batteries containing heavy metals and discarded wood treated with dangerous substances such as anti-fungal and anti-termite chemicals.
Domestic waste also known as "municipal solid waste” is waste that is generated as a result of the ordinary day-to-day use of a domestic premise. It is either taken from the premises by or on behalf of the person who generated the waste; or collected by or on behalf of a local government as part of a waste collection and disposal system.
The wastes could be both solid and liquid types; and the way they are going to be handled, stored, and disposed can expose the environment and public health to risks (Zhu, Asnani, Zurbrügg, Anapolsky, & Mani, 2008). Globally, millions of tons of municipal solid waste are generated every day. Urban waste management is drawing increasing attention, as it can easily be observed that too much garbage is lying uncollected in the streets, causing inconvenience, environmental pollution, and posing a public health risk (Zia, & Devadas, 2008)
Rouse (2008) defined Solid waste as “material which no longer has any value to its original owner, and which is discarded”. The main constituents of solid waste in urban areas are organic waste (including kitchen waste and garden trimmings), paper, glass, metals and plastics. Ash, dust and street sweepings can also form a significant portion of the waste. Rouse (2008), opined that; Solid waste management (SWM) involves the collection, storage, transportation, processing, treatment, recycling and final disposal of waste. Systems need to be simple, affordable, and sustainable (financially, environmentally and socially) and should be equitable, providing collection services to poor as well as wealthy households
Waste Disposal is one of the major and very complex environmental problems facing low income countries like Nigeria. It is settled that one of the main problems facing Nigeria and which has become an intractable nuisance is the open and indiscriminate dumping of waste which include human waste, animal waste and other waste components. Piles of decaying garbage litter in strategic locations in the area. Solid waste and other waste in such open dump site is, unarguably a source of atmospheric and water pollution, land contamination, health hazards and environmental degradation. In Port Harcourt and most fast growing cities in Nigeria like Lagos and Ibadan it is not uncommon to see open waste dumps located in close proximity to residential areas. According to Parker (ND) the Law of Garbage is: “Everybody wants it picked up, but nobody wants it put down.” And, the second part of this Law is: Nobody wants it put down anywhere near where they live, the so-called “not in my back yard” syndrome (NIMBY), or “locally unacceptable land use” (LULUs). But the reality is that open waste dumps are located close to residential areas where people live. It is universally accepted that the location of a property influences the price or rent of the property either positively or negatively. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of open waste dumps on rents of residential properties in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The study compared rental values of properties located in close proximity to and those located far from the open waste dumps. The study revealed that there are differences in rental values.
Statement of the Research Problem
Solid waste management is one of the major problems facing urban centres in Nigeria. With rapid increase in population and urbanization, solid wastes are accumulating faster than agencies’ ability to cope with its effective management. The rate of urban growth in Nigeria is about 3.75%, while population is increasing by about 2.47% per annum (Nigeria Demographic report, 2014). As cities grow, land use becomes increasingly complex and waste generated increase in volume and variety (Omuta, 1987).
Like most cities in Nigeria, Jos city is rapidly increasing in population; from a small town of less than 10,000 people in 1930, 20,000 people in 1950, the population grew to over 600,000 in 1991 (Dung-Gwong, 2006). Besides mining, Jos was a popular recreational and holiday town for colonial officials due to its clement weather and appealing natural environment. This rapid growth of the city led to the creation of Jos-South LGA in 1991 and by 2006 it had a population of 306,716 (NPC, 2006) and this population continues to generate solid waste. In Jos-South LGA, people tend to utilize the most expedient means of waste disposal such as burying, dumping on land, in ditches and gutters, or drainage systems or burying in pits and burning. These practices have resulted in a degraded urban environment and prevalence of diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, and malaria as reported by (PLMH, 2009).This has serious implications for the economy and livelihood realities of the teeming population (Okafor, 2011).
Conscious of the above health implication, the government of Plateau State has made deliberate efforts to rid Jos city of indiscriminate dumping of solid waste. In 1976, Jos-Metropolitan Development Board (JMDB) was created to oversee urban development and city sanitation,but the Board could not achieve its goal on sanitation, which resulted in the creation of Plateau Environmental Protection and Sanitation Agency (PEPSA) in 1991 to manage waste in the city. Yet, the desire for effective management of solid wastes was again not realized. Consequently, there was a declaration of the state of emergency on sanitation in 2008 whereby task force on sanitation was inaugurated to supervise the activities of PEPSA and report directly to the Deputy Governor.Gyang (2008) and Moses (2010) report that despite all these efforts, the city is still littered with indiscriminate dumping of solid waste. Owing to the consistent inability to effectively manage solid waste in the area, it has become necessary to verify and identify the constraints militating against it
AlthoughAgunwamba (1998) identifies some problems militating against solid waste management generally such as Lack of planning, shortage of technical man power, finance, equipment, policies, and enforcement of the law; Imam, Mohamed, Wilson and Cheesman (2008) on the other hand, recognized public behaviours as the problem which affects all the stages of solid waste management such as waste storage, collection, waste segregation, waste recycling and disposal. But these do not appear to adequately account for the parlous state of solid waste management in Jos-South LGA of Plateau State, because of its peculiarity in geography and administration.
Available literature in Nigeria shows that most attention has been focused on problems of solid waste management on specific sectors such as: attitude, governance, collection, and disposal (Ezeashi, 2007; Nzeadibe, Ayadiuno and Akukwe, 2009; Onah, 2010 and Moses, 2010). These researchers studied only topical aspects of solid waste management and evaluated its problems. As such, the determination of the problems of solid waste management using a combination of variables from the different aspects has been largely ignored, particularly in a politically volatile environment.It is against this gap in research and the persistent inability to effectively manage solid waste in the area that this study is being carried out to examine domestic waste disposal practice on residential property investment.
Aims and Objectives of the Study
The main objectives of this study is to investigate the domestic waste disposal practice on residential property investment.
Specifically, the study have the following objectives:
1.To examine whether domestic waste disposal have any Loss of Economic (Rental) Value 2.To analyze whether open waste dumps cause a reduction in rents of residential properties 3.To investigate the relationship that exist between Waste Disposal and Environmental health Problems Research Question 1. Does domestic waste disposal have any Loss of Economic (Rental) Value? 2. Does open waste dumps cause a reduction in rents of residential properties? 3. What are the relationship that exist between Waste Disposal and Environmental health Problems
Significance Of The Study
The findings of this study will bring to limelight the problems militating against solid waste management in Nigeria. The findings of this study will also be useful to researchers and scholars who may wish to embark on similar study.
Scope of the Study
The scope of this study is limited to the areas of Domestic Waste Disposal, domestic waste management and Practice and Residential Property Investment. The researcher limited the study to Port Harcourt since Nigeria is to vast to cover
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