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HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
529
Under the general policy directive of the Provisional Urban Council, the Urban Services Department is responsible for 345 public toilets. Cleansing of all these toilets is carried out by contractors. 161 toilets are managed by the Environmental Health Branch and cleansing is carried out by 3 contractors. 184 toilets are managed by the Leisure Services Branch, with 4 contractors carrying out the cleansing work. To ensure that the contractor's performance is up to the required standards, the Department stipulates, as far as possible, in the contract documents specified requirements such as detailed job descriptions including work schedules, the number of staff to be deployed and types of equipment to be used, etc. The Department backs this up by regular inspections of the actual performance of the contractors against the specifications laid down in the relevant contract documents. Regular meetings are also held with the contractors to review and enhance services whenever necessary.
In respect of toilets under the Environmental Health Branch, District Cleansing Foremen will inspect and check the cleansing condition of the toilets daily against the relevant work schedules and record their findings in a serially numbered inspection record. Senior Foremen, Overseers and Health Inspectors of each district cleansing section will also carry out regular inspections to the toilets to ensure that every part of the toilet is kept clean. Senior Officers of the district will also conduct regular formal inspections to the toilets. In addition to the day-to-day supervision by the district staff, regional and headquarters staff carry out surprise inspections to the toilets on a regular basis to monitor the cleansing services. A similar system is adopted by amenities staff in respect of public toilets managed by the Leisure Services Branch.
When departmental staff detect any irregularities during inspections, they will immediately bring them to the attention of the contractor's site supervisor for rectification, and to the attention of the senior management of the contractor in serious cases. If a contractor still fails to provide a satisfactory service following issue of verbal and written warnings, the Department will then impose appropriate financial penalties as provided for under the contract or in more serious cases, terminate the contract entirely. The performance of the contractor during the contract period will also be taken into account in considering whether to accept future tenders from the company concerned. As regards adopting a points system, the Department advises that it believes that there is not much to be gained by adopting such a system. The Department considers the present monitoring systems to be already very comprehensive and by and large, the performance of the contractors has to-date always been adequate.
In respect of professional drivers, like all other Council facilities, the Council provides public toilets for use by the public at large rather than targeted at particular groups of people such as professional drivers. In the built-up urban area, it is difficult to find suitable sites with public parking facilities nearby for the construction of public toilets. While most large public carparks are
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