Sufficient public toilets needed in city 'to protect public health, environment'
Monday, 8 June 2009
Speakers at a seminar Sunday stressed the need for establishing sufficient number of public toilets of quality standard in the capital city proportionate to the number of people gathering in the public places for protecting public health and environment, reports UNB.
Paribesh Banchao Andolon (save the environment movement) and the Department of Urban and Regional Planning of BUET jointly organised the seminar on 'Importance of public toilets in protecting public health and environment' at Dhaka Reporters Unity.
Dhaka divisional commissioner Khandoker Shawkat Hossain was the chief guest while chairman of Department of Urban and Regional Planning of BUET Roxana Hafiz was the special guest at the seminar, chaired by Paribesh Banchao Andolan (PABA) chairman Abu Naser Khan. "There's no toilet for children and handicapped people in the city… It's the responsibility of the government to manage public toilets for people in the public places-markets, shopping malls, bus stands, launch terminals and educational institutions," Roxana Hafiz said.
She emphasised on employing adequate number of workers to maintain the public toilets along with ensuring the security of the users. Addressing the seminar, Dhaka divisional commissioner Shawkat admitted that the scenario of public toilets in the city is miserable and the authorities had neglected the issue of children and handicapped people while constructing the toilets. He said the Local Government Division and City Corporation would have to be involved with the task of establishing standard public toilets in the capital city and in the district headquarters. "We shall have to work together to ensure human rights for all."
The divisional commissioner said the budget for public toilets in areas within the Dhaka City Corporation was a mere Tk 2.0 million in fiscal 2007-08 while an allocation Tk 20 million in fiscal 2008-09, a 10-fold increase, was made realising the importance of the facility.
PABA coordinator Kamal Pasha Chowdhury in a keynote paper highlighted lack of adequate number of standard public toilets in various public places of the capital city.
Quoting a survey report of Environment Watchdog, a unit of Paribesh Banchao Andolan, he said some 48 per cent people in the city normally use public toilets. Lack of cleanliness, unhygienic condition, excessive charge and lack of security were some of the reasons cited by the respondents of the survey for not using the public toilets. PABA member Rashid-e-Mahbub, chairman of Trans-Silva Transport Syed Rezaul Karim, former BIWTA executive engineer Tofael Ahmed and schoolteacher Pijush Kanti Saha, among others, spoke at the seminar.
Paribesh Banchao Andolon (save the environment movement) and the Department of Urban and Regional Planning of BUET jointly organised the seminar on 'Importance of public toilets in protecting public health and environment' at Dhaka Reporters Unity.
Dhaka divisional commissioner Khandoker Shawkat Hossain was the chief guest while chairman of Department of Urban and Regional Planning of BUET Roxana Hafiz was the special guest at the seminar, chaired by Paribesh Banchao Andolan (PABA) chairman Abu Naser Khan. "There's no toilet for children and handicapped people in the city… It's the responsibility of the government to manage public toilets for people in the public places-markets, shopping malls, bus stands, launch terminals and educational institutions," Roxana Hafiz said.
She emphasised on employing adequate number of workers to maintain the public toilets along with ensuring the security of the users. Addressing the seminar, Dhaka divisional commissioner Shawkat admitted that the scenario of public toilets in the city is miserable and the authorities had neglected the issue of children and handicapped people while constructing the toilets. He said the Local Government Division and City Corporation would have to be involved with the task of establishing standard public toilets in the capital city and in the district headquarters. "We shall have to work together to ensure human rights for all."
The divisional commissioner said the budget for public toilets in areas within the Dhaka City Corporation was a mere Tk 2.0 million in fiscal 2007-08 while an allocation Tk 20 million in fiscal 2008-09, a 10-fold increase, was made realising the importance of the facility.
PABA coordinator Kamal Pasha Chowdhury in a keynote paper highlighted lack of adequate number of standard public toilets in various public places of the capital city.
Quoting a survey report of Environment Watchdog, a unit of Paribesh Banchao Andolan, he said some 48 per cent people in the city normally use public toilets. Lack of cleanliness, unhygienic condition, excessive charge and lack of security were some of the reasons cited by the respondents of the survey for not using the public toilets. PABA member Rashid-e-Mahbub, chairman of Trans-Silva Transport Syed Rezaul Karim, former BIWTA executive engineer Tofael Ahmed and schoolteacher Pijush Kanti Saha, among others, spoke at the seminar.