Unreasonable public toilet system in Vinh city

Difficult to recognize public restrooms

According to Decision No. 265/QD-UBND dated January 19, 2012 of the People's Committee approving the planning for the construction of a system of overpasses, parking lots and public toilets, Vinh City is planned to arrange 72 toilets. Specifically, 10 main streets running along the city all have public toilet systems. In addition, other areas such as Cao Thang night street, Vinh Ancient Citadel food night market, Hung Dung market, Provincial Labor Culture House, Vinh Tan Lake Park, Truong Thi market... are assigned to arrange at least 1 toilet in each area.

The public restroom in Nguyen Tat Thanh Park was contracted out to a business owner and is now in serious disrepair. Photo: NH

Public toilet in Quang Trung Ward. Photo: Dao Tuan

According to a survey, some public toilets in Vinh city are being misused and seriously degraded. In the Goong Lake area, public toilets are seriously degraded and encroached upon; in Quang Trung ward, public toilets have existed for a long time but people see that they are an advertising facility...

The public restroom at Ben Thuy Gas Station is located separately and is open 24/7, but because there is no sign, many people do not know about it. Photo: NH

In addition, the main purpose of the original WC facilities was to serve customers parking, going to the market or buying gasoline, so even though they were later "assigned" to the planning and used for public purposes, there was a surplus but a lack of public restrooms. "I often travel the Vinh - Quynh Luu route every day by bus, so I often take the bus early into the city. Sometimes I want to find a public restroom but can't find one, so I often laugh and cry. Many people also say that I can go to the gas station or parking lot, but I don't buy anything or park my vehicle, so I'm more hesitant to go in," said Mr. Ho Chau - a passenger from Son Hai (Quynh Luu).

Public toilets at the old Vinh Bus Station and Cua Bac Market have been removed due to the bus station moving but have not been added as planned. Photo: NH

The public restroom at the intersection in Hung Dung Ward (old Customs roundabout) has just been renovated but is located within the premises of a gas station so it is difficult to recognize. Photo: NH

The above reality shows that in Vinh City, although there are public toilets on main streets and central areas, people do not easily recognize them. Besides, currently, main areas such as Ho Chi Minh Square, Cao Thang night street, Thanh Co night market... often gather crowds but there are too few toilets and they are not convenient.

Inadequacies in investment and operation

Learning more, we learned that because Vinh city does not have a separate public toilet system plan and it was not until 2012 that the city had a plan to submit to the Provincial People's Committee for approval, the implementation was quite passive. To invest in a cluster of public toilets currently costs no less than several hundred million VND, so in addition to investment resources, there is no more land fund, so the only way is to combine with public service points to put the toilets of these units into public purposes.

Public restrooms in the Square area have indicator lights, but are not connected to the outside. Photo: NH

For that reason, recently, the city has worked with parking lot management boards, market management boards and petrol companies to renovate and put toilet facilities at markets, gas stations and bus stations into common use.

However, the operation process also has a problem that the toilet facilities at the gas station are not labeled for public use, so not everyone knows and uses them. In addition, some toilet facilities at bus stations or market management boards, historical sites are located deep in the market and bus station grounds and do not have a signaling system, so it is difficult for passersby and residents to recognize them.

The location inside the sidewalk of Ho Tung Mau Street near Pho Hoa Cafe will be renovated and a sign will be placed to add a public restroom after the walking street is operational. Along with that, the city will also invest in an additional public restroom at 49 Ho Tung Mau Street. Photo: NH

In addition, according to a recent survey by the City Urban Management Department, the toilet facilities in the markets have degraded and are not hygienic; 11 out of 31 markets, parking lots and gas stations do not have toilet facilities as prescribed. Some areas with high population density such as Cua Bac Market Bus Station or Quang Trung C Area are supposed to have public toilets, but now they are stuck in planning, the bus station has been relocated and the toilet facilities have been demolished without being added.

The gas station on Le Duan Street, Trung Do Ward has a restroom that is arranged as a public restroom, but because it is quite deep, few customers and residents know about and use it, except for customers buying gasoline. Photo: NH

Faced with the above shortcomings, the City People's Committee is surveying and preparing to supplement the planning to submit to the province for approval, accordingly, it will add more public toilet facilities in the night street and walking street; at the same time, assign the People's Committees of wards to mobilize households doing business in the night street and walking street along with business organizations selling goods to commit to arranging and setting up public toilet facilities for customers.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Duc - Head of Urban Management Department of Vinh City

According to many people, in order for the public toilet system to be easily recognizable, right from the design stage, the authorities must require the consulting and design units of public toilets to have their own lighting and signal systems so that people can easily see them. Along with that, in the long term, after investing in upgrading, the city will have to develop regulations for operating, managing, and operating public toilets in combination with business booths at public tourist attractions in the most effective way.

List of public toilet facilities in Vinh City:

- Vinh market, Vinh University market, Cau Kenh Bac market, Hung Loc market, Hung Chinh market, Dong Vinh market.

- Ben Thuy gas station, Quan Bau gas station, Quan Banh gas station, Mai Hac De gas station, Hung Phuc gas station, Hung Dung gas station, Military Gas Station QK4 Le Duan Street, Le Duan gas station, 26 Nguyen Sy Sach gas station, Hung Loc gas station.

- Parking lot on the road up to Dung Quyet mountain; Central Park, Nguyen Tat Thanh Park, Ho Chi Minh Square area.