Asean debates toilet standards

“A nation without a clean toilet is a nation without culture,” said a Brunei official at the Asean Public Toilet Standards Workshop, hosted Wednesday by the country’s Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources (MIPR) at the Holiday Lodge, Jerudong.

Brunei Darussalam is leading and coordinating the Asean Public Toilet Standards Audit Checklist, a project that serves to structure a standard guideline to design and maintain clean toilets in the Asean region, which was officially presented Wednesday at a meeting of the Public Toilet Standard Committee.

According to Afandi Hj Alias, a tourism officer from the Tourism Development Department under MIPR, Wednesday’s workshop was held to discuss and gather feedback on the subject matter from authorities concerned.

Throughout the workshop, participants discussed the importance of setting standards in public toilets by increasing the level of service and maintenance to help improve the tourism experience.

Laura Simei, a representative of the World Toilet Organisation and one of the facilitators of the workshop, said that clean public toilets are an important part of enhancing the tourism experience for visitors.

“Each tourist would potentially need to visit the toilet at least three times a day, on average. So it is very important for [these tourists] to quickly, easily and conveniently find the appropriate toilet at the appropriate time, [so that they can] spend the maximum time they have for visiting, going shopping, and entertaining themselves, rather than having to go back to the hotel, because there is no good public toilet available.”

Therefore, she said, having applicable guidelines at hand and standards in place are the best way to ensure expectations are well-managed.

Ibu Naning Adiwoso, the founder of the Indonesian Toilet Association, explained during her presentation that the design of toilets is vital, as a lot of aspects need to be considered: geographic, biological, cultural, mathematical, environmental, and chemical aspects.

“Most Asian countries are tropical countries with high humidity. Humidity causes bacteria, fungus, virus, and mildew to easily grow. Hence, toilets must have a good ventilation system,” she said.

“With regards to the cultural and behavioural aspect of using toilets, some are used to squatting while others sit, and using either water or toilet paper to clean.”

She emphasised the point that going to the toilet is not a choice, but a necessity. “Therefore, a public toilet has to be designed to be fully sanitary, where water is provided and all facilities in it are clean, safe and hygienic.”