Special Squads To Make Public Toilets Extra Clean

The government announced on Friday that it will be setting up a specialist team in every district to "thoroughly clean" the city's public toilets, in addition to the work done by regular workers.

This comes after Financial Secretary Paul Chan announced in his budgets that HK$600 million would be allocated for the refurbishment of 240 public toilets around the city.

Environmental hygiene director Vivian Lau said that some of that money will be used to set up a new five-member "deep cleansing" team for each district.

She said more than 200 public toilets are staffed, that is, with at least an attendant. And, in future, other than “routine cleansing work” performed by the attendants, the dedicated teams would regularly go to public toilets for what she called “deep cleansing work”.

These specialist teams will be making use of modern methods like ozone technology to clean the air.

Revamped toilets will also feature air conditioners and dryers fitted above the sinks to minimise spilling of water.

The director added that starting from next month, the government will change the "scoring system" for the tendering process for cleaning contracts, and award more points to companies that promise a higher salary for their cleaners.

Lau said it is up to the market to respond to the change, but the government expects to see an increase in wages for the workers.