Public Toilet Legislation

Imagine for a moment that all the law-makers of this country are invited to a 14 hour picnic in Lyari, Shershah, Landhi, Orangi, or Korangi, where they are allowed to eat, drink, buy, walk or see whatever comes to their mind. The only restriction imposed is that their vehicles are confiscated for a day, and that there is no way they could go to a home or a hotel to perform a quick small or a big job. After this painful non-relieving experience, some of them may need to be given medical treatment, while some others would decide to leave the country that does not even provide such basic relief mechanisms. However those left behind will enact a law, on their very first appearance in the national or provincial assembly, (at exactly the same speed and urgency with which they passed their pays and perks law), to provide basic public toilet facility to all citizens. This may be the only way Pakistan could see a Public Toilet Legislation, that admits the right to a decent toilet facility as a fundamental human right, and requires the state to provide access to a clean public toilet to all its citizens.

Singapore for its population of 4 million people has 70,000 public toilets. Karachi for its 15 million people has less than 70. It is not that the people of Karachi have any different biological construction. It is also not that they have any special romantic notion about publicly relieving themselves along boundary walls, footpaths, playgrounds or any kind of abandoned or even occupied plots. It is simply that they have no options, and they are forced to adopt this socially and environmentally degrading behaviour. One wonders, what did we do with the 4000 million rupees that we (mis)spent under the garb of environmental improvement in the last 10 years.

While democracy and freedom of expression may take some time to arrive, till then we could at least go for meeting a yet more basic human right which necessarily needs to be exercised by every citizen a few times each day. The necessity of building public toilets is not going to be a concern for law-makers or government officials, who are never away from posh and exclusive places that provide them abundant opportunity for private relief. It is the poor and the ordinary, men and women, old and children, working or visiting places far away from home, who must suffer the pain, ignominy and embarrassment of publicly performing acts that they too would wish to execute at a clean and decent place.

Europe built its first public toilet in 1214 AD. Since then there has been no looking back, and clean public toilets have come to reflect the level of peace, civility and social norms of a city. Singapore now operates a "Happy Toilet" campaign that will rate public toilets with a five-star system similar to the one used for hotels. Toilets that meet the grade will soon be able to show off plaques bearing their star rating, and also qualify for the “Singapore Loo of the Year” award. Announcing the scheme, the president of the Singapore Restroom Association, said: "When toilets are clean, people are happy and healthy." He perhaps forgot to mention that that there may be a direct co-relation between absence of toilets and disorder, anarchy and extremism in a society.

Pakistan prides itself in making nuclear bombs, but finds it too complex to design or produce public toilets for its citizens. A recent initiative of CDA to build public toilets in the country’s capital must be applauded as a first step. But obviously making of toilets is far easier than keeping them clean and working. The only things that still work in the Islamabad toilets are the well painted sign boards displayed at prominent places giving the general direction of the “Bait ul Khula”. Determining a toilet’s exact location needs far greater skills in geography and navigation. The other commendable initiative in this regard is the Karachi CPLC’s public toilet project, supported by donations and voluntary participation by many citizens. But with little real support from government and a messy political power structure of the town, the CPLC, despite its best efforts could make only 28 public toilets in the past 3 years. We therefore need a radically different approach, if we wish to provide even a half decent toilet facility to the 15 million Karachiites. (Not to mention the runaway birth rate and the 50000 monthly new arrivals from upcountry.)

As a starter, we need to campaign for a public toilet legislation. This legislation is essential to declare access to a clean toilet as a basic human right, and to provide a sense of basic human dignity to all citizens. Inviting lawmakers for a 14 hour picnic at public places (minus the toiletry arrangements), might sound amusing, but would be the only effective method to make them realise the agony and indignity that is suffered by ordinary people each day. It must be made obligatory for all oil companies to have two well maintained (men and ladies) public toilets at each petrol pump. No public place (park, movie house, play ground, mosque, shopping mall, bus station) should be allowed to operate unless it has a provision for adequate number of public toilets. The city governments should take the responsibility for building public toilets at city centres, shopping areas, and tourist spots. Public should be made aware about the proper use of public toilets, and high standard of cleanliness and upkeep should be made a compulsory requirement. The cynics would say this can never happen in Pakistan. Of course it can happen. It will happen as soon as the governors, ministers and senior public officials say goodbye to their private attached bathrooms and make it a point to start using the nearest public toilet.