Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ2 : Hygienic conditions of public toilets

Following is a question by the Hon. Cheung Man-kwong and a reply by the Secretary for the Environment and Food, Mrs. Lily Yam, in the Legislative Council meeting today (May 16):

Question :

Survey findings have shown that members of the public and tourists are dissatisfied with the hygiene conditions of public toilets in the territory. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the government departments responsible for monitoring the hygiene conditions of the public toilets managed by government departments or non-government organizations, and the division of duties among these departments; of the respective numbers of complaints received by these departments concerning unsatisfactory hygiene conditions of the public toilets in the past five years, together with a breakdown by the subject of complaint;

(b) of the respective amounts of public expenditure on cleansing the public toilets managed by government departments and on public education on keeping the public toilets clean in the past five years; and

(c) whether it has made reference to overseas experience and drawn up plans to improve the hygiene conditions of public toilets; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Answer

(a) The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) is responsible for the provision and monitoring of public toilets, including their hygienic conditions. Besides, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) also provide toilets in country parks, parks and leisure as well as cultural venues for use by the public. The two departments also monitor the hygienic conditions of these toilets.

As for licensed premises such as restaurants and cinemas under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance and the Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance and their subsidiary legislations, they are required to provide toilet service during business hours and keep the toilets clean at all times. When health inspectors of FEHD inspect these premises or upon receipt of complaints from the public, they will also inspect the hygienic conditions of the toilets. If irregularity is found, depending on the seriousness of the irregularity, the department will issue verbal warning or prosecute the operators of the premises concerned.

As regards toilets provided by other private organizations, it is the responsibility of the organizations concerned to monitor the hygienic conditions of these toilets. Upon receipt of complaint by FEHD, FEHD will in the first place advise either the management companies or responsible persons to take appropriate action to rectify the irregularity. For serious cases which cause environmental nuisances, FEHD may issue nuisance notices demanding rectification as soon as possible.

Since the establishment of FEHD and LCSD on 1 January 2000 to 31 March 2001, they have received a total of 328 complaints on the hygienic conditions of public toilets, of which 224 concern about the cleanliness of toilets and the other 104 cases concern about inadequate or damaged facilities.

In the past five years, AFCD has received a total of 12 complaints concerning the hygienic conditions of its toilets, of which six concern about the cleanliness of the toilets and the remaining six about damaged facilities. As regards toilets provided by non-government organizations, since the establishment of FEHD on 1 January 2000 to 31 March 2001, it has received a total of 38 complaints about the hygienic conditions of toilets provided by restaurants.

(b) In the past five years, the two former Municipal Services Departments, FEHD and AFCD spent a total of $136.3 million on cleansing of public toilets. As the cleansing of toilets within venues managed by LCSD is only part of the cleansing work covered by the cleansing contracts of these venues, there is no breakdown on expenditure spent specifically on toilet cleansing service of LCSD.

FEHD, AFCD and LCSD all have organized various promotion and publicity programmes to educate the public to keep Hong Kong clean. We do not have a breakdown of the expenditure spent specifically on promoting public toilets clean.

(c) Relevant departments have paid overseas visits in order to improve the design of public toilets. For example, through learning from overseas experience, the Architectural Services Department has started incorporating new designs for new public toilets, including the use of anti-bacteria building material, auto water tap and floor drying system.

Wednesday, May 16, 2001