Facing problems when trying to use toilet
Published on: Wednesday, July 27, 2022
By: Sidney Skinner
Left: PTMD staff have a look at the club’s toilets together with an employee for the establishment. Right: Not a drop of water was available from the taps inside the toilets during the inspection.
AN Inanam proprietor has been instructed to improve the cleanliness of the toilets at his/her restaurant, while the management of an international bank has been advised to consider giving the elderly and disabled access to the toilets at its branch in the State Capital.City Hall officers went to the eatery and financial institution recently following feedback from two different women about the problems they encountered when they tried to ease themselves at both premises.
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A Luyang customer bemoaned her inability to flush the toilets or wash her hands when she went for dinner at the restaurant. A Sembulan retiree, on the other hand, spoke out about the bank’s heartless protocols which prevented her from using the toilets inside when her bladder problems got the better of her.
They provided Hotline with the times and dates of these incidents, which were forwarded, to the agency.
The agency’s personnel queried the eatery’s staff about the poor condition of the toilets.
A spokeswoman for City Hall’s Health and Environment Department said personnel with its Public Toilet Management Division (PTMD) found drums inside the men’s and women’s toilets at the restaurant. However, there was barely enough water inside these receptacles for customers to use, let alone for these facilities to be washed down, according to her.
“The restaurant’s workers admitted, at the time, that they were finding it difficult to clean the toilets due to the water shortage at the premises,” she said.
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“Our officers, however, found that the recreation club in the same compound as the eatery did not have a problem with its supply.” She said they found that the club’s toilets were clean and in good order. “The club’s employees did say that the pressure of the water entering the building had been weak, in the weeks prior to this inspection.”
The spokeswoman said the PTMD could not understand how one premises could be getting a supply while the other, which was right beside it, was not.
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She said the club and eatery were managed by different parties.
“We have apprised those who run the restaurant of our findings and are in the process of preparing a notice which will be served to the owner.
“The individual will be officially asked to step up the maintenance of the eatery’s toilets, including attending to any damaged fixtures inside.
“On top of this, he/she will be asked to increase the number of water tanks servicing the restaurant so that the toilets and taps inside can function as they should.” She said the proprietor would be given a grace-period in which to comply with these requirements.
“A follow-up inspection will be carried out after this. Should we find that our advice has fallen on deaf ears, then further action will be taken.”
In the case of the bank in the City, the spokeswoman said the PTMD-team was barred from verifying the condition of the toilets inside the financial institution. “Our staff were told that, per the bank’s policies and for security reasons, these facilities were exclusively for the company’s employees and management.
“The bank’s customers were directed to make use of the public toilets if they wished to ease themselves.” The nearest amenity of this nature was located about 50-60 metres away from the financial institution, across a main road with traffic going in opposite directions.
The spokesman said PTMD personnel appealed to the bank staff, who dealt with them, to speak to his/ her superiors about making an exception for account-holders who were old or handicapped.
“We urged the company to give these individuals some allowance, on compassionate grounds, should a toilet emergency arise while they were in the midst of having their transactions processed at the premises.”
WONG, who suffers from incontinence, said she was unexpectedly overcome by the urge to relieve herself, while waiting for the bank’s staff to open a savings’ account. “Me and my daughter had been waiting for more than half an hour for the account to be set up,” she said.
“I badly needed to go and urinate by this time and feared that I might soil myself and the bank’s furniture, so I asked the Customer Service staff whether I could go to one of the toilets inside.
“To my amazement, she told me to go to the public toilets outside the building.” The 85-year old pointed out that she was a bit unsteady on her feet and had to cross a busy road on a weekday morning to reach these facilities, but the bank personnel refused to be swayed.
“She did tell us that we could come back at some later time to finish the transaction, so we left so that my daughter could find me a toilet to use.”
MUN of Luyang, meanwhile, expressed her displeasure about the stench coming from the women’s toilets at the restaurant. She was under the impression that the eatery’s workers may have been lackadaisical about their responsibilities.
“I was shocked to find that the flush inside the stall I entered did not work,” she said. “To make matters worse, I could not even rinse my hands as all the taps at the sinks were dry.”
She said this was not the first time that she had encountered this problem at the eatery. “I noticed this the last time I ate at the restaurant a few years ago.”
Mun said the deplorable state of the toilets was highly unacceptable, given the call for the public to constantly keep their hands clean to ensure that they did not contract Covid-19. “I hope City Hall will resolve the problems with these facilities.
“The authority should makes it a priority to ensure that the toilets are operable and kept clean at all times so that first time visitors, including overseas tourists, don’t get a negative impression of the State Capital.”
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