EFFECT OF WATER SCARCITY ON RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY PRICES

ABSTRACT

This research work is a careful study of effects of water on residential property prices in Owerri capital city of Imo state. The work was a handiwork of thorough and detailed fact finding task about water supply embarked upon by the researcher as is portrayed in various chapters and sections of this report. 

This work therefore tends to disclose the impact of water to many Nigerian citizens with direct reference to residential property prices of infrastructures in Owerri the capital city of Imo State. 

There existed great disparity in the prices of properties with very good sources of water supply and those without, leading to unnecessary social strata definition amongst the citizens as the rich who could afford the pleasure does so while the poor masses are left to wallow in scarcely furnished residential structures and poor water supply condition coupled with untold hardship. Also revealed in this study was the inability of the state government to conclude the MDG water project in the state for very long time which would have minimized the suffering of the people. The masses who this report gathered to be consistent to reasonable extent in paying their taxes preferred the government to provide better social facilities with their public fund instead of allowing them to cater for their needs themselves. The government in conclusion were urged to harness other alternative sources of water supplies available to the masses like the bore-holes, rain and stream waters and put them in better conditions so as to prevent the sharp gap created between the well to do and the poor who cannot afford the pleasure of expensive residential properties with convenient water supply sources.

In the course of the research, many existing articles, journals, periodicals and statistical records were gathered from reliable sources and used in the compilation process. The researcher also made use of primary data collected through interviews and questionnaires. The structured questionnaire which was captioned “Effect of Water on Residential Property Prices In Owerri Capital City of Imo State, Nigeria – Questionnaire (EOWORPPIOCCISNQ) was distributed to both (senior and junior) staffs in Imo state ministry of water resources and tenants living in the Owerri metropolis amounting to 92 final sample size gotten from a sample population of 220 people chosen by the researcher.

Data collected were presented and analysed with the help of the 2 hypotheses and research questions contained in the work. The sample size was determined using the Yaro Yamani statistical tool while the hypotheses were tested with the Chi- square (X2) method of analysis. 

Just as every good work would never come so easy, there also existed several challenges that in one way or the other constrained the researcher from producing a totally constraint-free research report. Like every other post graduate student, severe academic and work demands competed for limited time available for carrying out this research work. Meanwhile official laxity or bureaucratic bottlenecks better put severally reared its ugly head as the researcher never got any needed assistance or information from Imo state ministry of water resources without passing through unnecessary delays and postponements. Unforgettably, limited finance almost quenched the processes of this research as the researcher had to extend his tentacles far and wide to source information and materials on the research topic as very scanty or none existed prior to this work.     

Summary, recommendation and conclusion were clearly stated at the final chapter of this work, they were arrived at based on the findings and analysis of data and facts gotten from chapters three and four respectively.