Swiss investor offers five-star public toilets to Ho Chi Minh City

According to plans, the investor will recover the investment capital through collecting between VND5,000 ($0.22) and VND10,000 ($0.45) per person for the use of these public toilets.

This information was released by Deputy Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh People’s Committee Tran Vinh Tuyen at a working session with the city’s authorities to deal with difficulties in building over 1,000 public toilets in the city.

Tuyen said that building more public toilets will contribute to making the city more civilised and elegant in the eyes of both foreign and domestic visitors. However, implementation has faced difficulties in arranging suitable positions and construction expenditure.

“Residents and visitors care about the quality as well as the convenience of public toilets, rather than whether there is a fee when they use public toilets. Thus, the city would find it beneficial and well-appreciated to build five-star public toilets which include air conditioners, private entrances for disabled people, and modern equipment,” Tuyen stated.

Along with Mister Loo, domestic investor Vinasing Media and Trading Joint Stock Company also proposed the Ho Chi Minh People’s Committee to construct 1,000 public lavatories with a total investment capital of VND110 billion ($4.93 million). Regardless of the eventual investor’s identity, the toilets will be located at stations, parks, and streets, covering major junctions.

Vinasing, instead of recovering the investment capital through fee collection, proposed the city for advertisement rights on billboards on overpasses for 15 years.

According to Nguyen Thi Thanh My, deputy director of the city’s Natural Resources and Environment, the city currently has 208 public toilets. However, the system has yet to meet the desired standards in terms of number and convenience. There are only 11 public toilets meeting the four and five-star standard, invested by Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank), are in pilot operations in the city.