30 May 2018 01:37 am
Always wet, always stinks
Shortage of manpower
Speaking to the CMC’s Director of Engineering Works A.C.M Fazal said that the CMC has completely renovated close to 17 toilet units with state-of-the-art facilities. “Although the establishment of these units is under the Colombo Municipal Council they are being outsourced. Therefore there’s a nominal charge when people use these toilets. Especially toilets in the Colombo North area have been abandoned for years because people have started building their own toilets and nobody uses public toilets. Although they are abandoned the CMC has to bear the electricity and water bills and eventually public toilets become a liability.
There’s also a shortage of manpower and therefore we thought it was best to outsource them. We have identified seven more locations to establish public toilets and we are introducing toilets which could be used by differently-abled persons as well. We also want to ensure the safety of users and therefore we are in the process of building separate toilets for gents and ladies. If there are any complaints we have a team of district engineers who weekly inspect these toilets. They file a report and identify any missing equipment and shortages. This way we are able to keep them up-to-date and in a usable condition,” he said.
These toilets were also wet. None of these toilets had toilet paper, tissue and hand-wash. Certain personal hygiene products were carelessly thrown into the dustbins adding to the unpleasantness
Children not using school toilets
When contacted Dr.Deepal Perera, Consultant Paediatrician at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital, said that due to unhygienic conditions in toilets, people have a tendency to develop various health problems. “They could end up having skin infections and viruses. When it comes to children they sometimes don’t drink water and also don’t use the school toilets. This in turn would lead to kidney problems and if the water isn’t filtered it may even lead to conditions such as diarrhea. Therefore it’s important to educate people on using toilets, so that it’s in a state where the next person can use.” said Dr. Perera.