HK Needs A Commissioner For Toilets: Kwok Ka-ki

A member of Legco's health services panel has called on the government to appoint a commissioner to look after the maintenance of public toilets, saying facilities are now run by different departments, leading to disarray.

Kwok Ka-ki, from the Civic Party, said he welcomed the reported plan by the administration to allocate HK$500 million in the budget to upgrade more than 200 public toilets around Hong Kong, but warned that improving the hardware is not enough.

He said modern toilets and designs are good, but due to a lack of proper maintenance they get start to wear out after about six months.

"I think they should have a commissioner for public toilets. Maybe a high level government official responsible for the whole policy. Not only for the public toilets under the environment and hygiene department, but for all of them, including the leisure department, agricultural department, in the country parks," the lawmaker said.

At present, the maintenance of public toilets is outsourced to contractors, and the firm with the lowest bid wins the job. They employ elderly people, some even in their 80s, who work 12 hours a day without even a proper lunch break, he said.

Kwok's suggestion of a single entity to oversee the management of public toilets was backed by the vice-president of the Hong Kong Toilet Association. Dr Henry Hung said there are too many departments doing it right now.

Hung also told RTHK's Janice Wong that along with the upgrades, there should also be efforts to educate the public about the proper use of the facilities.