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# HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
Chairman (in Cantonese):-Thank you, Mr. WONG. The answer is 'yes'. The Working Group has decided that in future, every public toilet will show the name of its cleansing contractor, the daily frequency of cleansing and the hours of cleansing, so that after cleansing is done at 9.00 a.m., cleanliness of the toilet after 9.00 a.m. should be satisfactory but before cleansing is done at 11.00 a.m. the condition between 10.30 and 11.00 a.m. would be less satisfactory. Accordingly, not only the frequency of cleansing but also the hours of cleansing will be clearly shown to facilitate our supervision. All these will be displayed in a notice board in every public toilet for public information.
Mr. Suen Kai-CHEONG (in Cantonese):--I want to ask the Chairman whether he could provide us with the number of Council cleansing contractors who were punished or warned because of poor performance or sub-standard services. Could the Chairman give us the figure?
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):—Of these figures, the majority involves those who were given verbal warnings by us. There were a total of 243 verbal warnings and three written warnings. For the more serious cases, fines were imposed. There were only 31 cases in which a fine of over $5,000 was imposed. We therefore consider that imposition of a fine could only serve as a warning. The important thing is that the contractors cooperate with us and are sincere in improving their services. The fines are to cover the administrative cost. They are by no means an effective measure. We hope to achieve improvement through various channels, such as education, publicity and punishment. On the other hand, dirtiness of a toilet is not entirely the responsibility of the contractor. To a large extent it is because users are not cooperative and are not careful in using the toilet, thereby causing dirtiness.
Ms. JENNIFER CHOW KIT-BING (in Cantonese):-I have two follow-up questions. The first question is, will the Working Group take into consideration the needs of professional drivers in future site selection?
The second question is, will a complaint hot-line be provided for the lodging of complaints about the cleanliness and broken facilities of the toilets? This is because we have received a lot of complaints from users of female toilets in parks saying that they have no idea as to how to lodge a complaint or handle about broken doors or locks of the toilets.
Chairman (in Cantonese):-The numbers of complaint hot-lines are clearly listed out in every public toilet. The problem now is not so much the complaining channel as the responsiveness to complaints. Hence, our Working Group has been monitoring the responsiveness to complaints, which must be fast. Very often it takes a long time to respond after receipt of a complaint and this is the area where delay is caused.
Page 538 of 654
-2° of 654
Page 538 of 654
of 654
532
HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
Chairman (in Cantonese):-Thank you, Mr. WONG. The answer is 'yes'. The Working Group has decided that in future, every public toilet will show the name of its cleansing contractor, the daily frequency of cleansing and the hours of cleansing, so that after cleansing is done at 9.00 a.m., cleanliness of the toilet after 9.00 a.m. should be satisfactory but before cleansing is done at 11.00a.m. the condition between 10.30 and 11.00 a.m, would be less satisfactory. Accordingly, not only the frequency of cleansing but also the hours of cleansing will be clearly shown to facilitate our supervision. All these will be displayed in a notice board in every public toilet for public information.
Mr. Suen Kai-CHEONG (in Cantonese):--I want to ask the Chairman whether he could provide us with the number of Council cleansing contractors who were punished or warned because of poor performance or sub-standard services. Could the Chairman give us the figure?
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):—Of these figures, the majority involves those who were given verbal warnings by us. There were a total of 243 verbal warnings and three written warnings. For the more serious cases, fines were imposed. There were only 31 cases in which a fine of over $5,000 was imposed. We therefore consider that imposition of a fine could only serve as a warning. The important thing is that the contractors cooperate with us and are sincere in improving their services. The fines are to cover the administrative cost. They are by no means an effective measure. We hope to achieve improvement through various channels, such as education, publicity and punishment. On the other hand, dirtiness of a toilet is not entirely the responsibility of the contractor. To a large extent it is because users are not cooperative and are not careful in using the toilet, thereby causing dirtiness.
Ms. JENNIFER CHOW KIT-BING (in Cantonese):-I have two follow-up questions. The first question is, will the Working Group take into consideration the needs of professional drivers in future site selection?
The second question is, will a complaint hot-line be provided for the lodging of complaints about the cleanliness and broken facilities of the toilets? This is because we have received a lot of complaints from users of female toilets in parks saying that they have no idea as to how to lodge a complaint or handle about broken doors or locks of the toilets.
Chairman (in Cantonese):-The numbers of complaint hot-lines are clearly listed out in every public toilet. The problem now is not so much the complaining channel as the responsiveness to complaints. Hence, our Working Group has been monitoring the responsiveness to complaints, which must be fast. Very often it takes a long time to respond after receipt of a complaint and this is the area where delay is caused.
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-2° of 654
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