A section of environmental activists on Tuesday demanded the government establish an adequate number of public toilets in the capital and maintain the existing toilets properly.
Their call came at a discussion organised by Poribesh Bachao Andolan (Poba) and WBB Trust (Work for a Better Bangladesh) to mark World Toilet Day. They want more toilets in public places and offices, guaranteed safe water supply, and the provision of soap, towels and tissue paper in toilets.
People in the capital remain indoors in offices, businesses and educational institutions for long periods during each working day, they said, but the number of toilets in most of these places is “insufficient” and most are “unusable”.
Moreover, the dearth of facilities beside highways and in transport stations, hospitals, markets, cinema halls and other public places, forces people to seek alternative spots beside roads, polluting the environment.
Women suffer the most without a proper sanitation system, and insufficient and unclean toilets. It is statistically more common for women than men to be affected by kidney infections and anal fissures and they drink less water when they are outside of their homes, due the shortage of facilities.
The speakers also called for mobile toilets to be established in places like Ijtema field and stadium, and said public and private initiatives can cater for the needs of the people.
The discussion was attended by Poba’s Joint General Secretaries Md Abdus Sobhan and Syed Monwar Hossain, WBB Trust Executive Director Syed Mahbubul Alam and others
