City needs more of these

Shafiqur Rahman had been looking for a toilet for half an hour. A man with prostate issues, he had to urinate frequently and was desperate. He eventually found a mobile toilet near Motijheel Petrol Pump.

After using the toilet, the 60-year-old said, “I searched for toilets for 30 minutes. I've never had such an experience like today's.”

He demanded more public toilets in the city. The two mobile toilets – one for men and the other for women -- in the busy Motijheel area were insufficient.

This correspondent talked to Shafiqur while visiting the place on May 12.

Rafiqul Islam Bhandari, who once used to be a scavenger, has been maintaining the toilets set up by the Association for Realisation of Basic Needs (ARBAN), an NGO working with excluded disadvantaged communities. 

Men's toilet has a urinal, push tap, toilet roll holder, and a bin. The ceramic urinal bowl looked clean. Another toilet meant for women has a mirror, bucket, ewer, toilet roll holder, and a soap case. The squatting stainless steel toilet pan was found clean as well.

“I clean the toilets at 11:00pm every night,” said Rafiqul, who sleeps on a table on the footpath next to the toilets.

Locals said the surrounding area of the petrol pump used to be flooded with urine and faeces.

Now, the situation has changed for the better. 

The footpath is now adorned with different types of plants. In the busiest area like Motijheel, Rafiqul even found a place to rear pigeons -- on top of the toilets.

One has to pay Tk 5 for urination and Tk 10 for defecation.

Rafiqul earns Tk 300-400 a day after bearing the maintenance cost of the toilets. 

“Water costs Tk 220 per day while the electricity bill is Tk 60. There are costs of soap, washing powder and [toilet roll] tissue. In total, about Tk 400 is being spent on maintaining the toilets every day,” he said.

During the lunch hour and evening, people crowd to use his toilets that are 19 months' old. Women often do not get the chance to use the toilet meant for them at peak hours as men use that one as well. 

Demanding another toilet for female, he said, “Had there been another toilet for female, I would have kept it reserved for their use only.”

Fifty-one mobile toilets have been set up in the city by ARBAN in association with WaterAid Bangladesh, an international NGO, and both the city corporations of Dhaka.

Mohebur Rahman, specialist on public sanitation option at ARBAN, said they would soon set up multi-chamber toilets with a facility for physically-challenged people.

Four people will be able to use such a 16-feet toilet at a time, he added.