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Written by: Chen Qianting
2019-11-27 13:19
Last updated: 2019-11-27 13:19The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department currently manages a total of 798 public toilets in Hong Kong, some of which have become dilapidated. The Hong Kong Government announced this year a budget of $ 600 million for renovation.
The latest audit report was released today (27th). Audit inspected the management of public toilets of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and found that public toilets in Yuen Long District were included in the renovation plan in 2011, but have not been completed. It takes a long time in two to three years. According to the Architectural Services Department, due to specific opinions from the local people, the design of public toilets needs to be re-drafted, and factors beyond the scope of the Architectural Services Department's control. The FEHD claims that the project was suspended due to structural safety issues during the project.
In addition, the Audit Commission is also concerned that as of June, 13% of the public toilets still have on-duty attendants. There are no additional duty rooms in accordance with the guidelines.
The government has budgeted $ 600 million to renovate some public toilets. (Profile picture)
Audit reviewed the management of the public toilets of the FEHD and found that there were delays in the refurbishment and construction of individual public toilets. One of the public toilets in Yuen Long District was included in the refurbishment plan in 2011 and was funded, but it has not been completed by June this year. It takes about two to three years longer than normal renovation works. The refurbishment of the public toilet includes the construction of an accessible and gender-free toilet, which requires additional land. The project received no objections from the regional consultation. Construction began in 2014 after the land was approved. Huan submitted objections and opposed the construction of accessible toilets. Architectural Services Department needed to hire consultants to modify the plans.
However, when the second version of the plan was consulted, there were regional people and district councillors requesting the addition of a biological sewage treatment system. The government then discussed with the consultant the feasibility of the plan and disturbed the "maintenance of the original judgment" at the end of two years. By 2018, when the contractor finally started construction, the structural brick wall of the public toilet was found to be in poor condition, and the bricks had to be replaced first. The Architectural Services Department had hired a new contractor to complete the remaining works based on the high price quoted by the contractor. The goal of the latest revision is Completed within this month.
Specific comments from local people are beyond ArchSD's control
The Architectural Services Department indicated to the Audit Office that due to specific opinions from the local people, it took 7 years to re-design the public toilet design, which was beyond the control of the Architectural Services Department. The FEHD stated that the project had suspended the project due to structural safety issues during the project. The security issue was considered to be of paramount importance, and the delay was said to be an independent case. Audit considers that ArchSD needs to assess the latest condition of the structural brick walls of the public toilets to be refurbished, and FEHD should work with ArchSD to expedite the action.
The union has concerned that the audit report reveals that 13% of public toilets still have no restrooms.
In addition, some unions have been concerned that cleaning staff on duty in public toilets have no duty room available, some duty rooms are full of sundries and insufficient ventilation equipment. According to the Audit Commission, as of June, there are still 33, or 13% of the public toilets with duty attendants, not equipped with duty rooms, even though the remaining 231 (87%) public toilets with duty rooms have no power outlets indoors. , Fan or exhaust fan, in violation of the guidelines in the Manual of Standard Facilities for Public Toilets.
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The male and female toilet compartment ratio is only 1.13, which does not meet the 1.2 ratio required by the public toilet manual. (Profile picture)
Public toilet damage rate increased to 33%
The Public Toilet Manual states that the ratio of male to female should be 1: 2. However, the average ratio of male and female toilets in public toilets in Hong Kong is only 1: 1.3. The FEHD stated that it was unable to expand due to field environmental constraints. In terms of the maintenance rate of public toilets, the number of damaged items increased from 13,290 in 2015 to 17,732 in 2018, an increase of 33%. Audit has stated that there are high damage rates for individual public toilets, of which 6 public toilets involve maintenance Maintenance requirements average 89 to 128 per year.
The FEHD responded that the higher damage included public toilets with high utilization rates, especially public toilets located at tourist attractions; the increase in maintenance and repair works may be due to inappropriate use of public toilets by the public and aging facilities. The Department should continue to step up publicity on the proper use of public toilets.