Facilities upgraded for Thang Long-Hanoi anniversary

The city is actively improving public facilities including toilets in order to prepare the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

A lack of public toilets and dirty, run down facilities are becoming common problems in Hanoi .

Along many streets in Hanoi , it is difficult to find a public toilet. Many are hidden behind shops and high buildings and some are left inaccessible because they are locked.

In some cases, signs for public toilets are out of date or lead people down dead ends.

Meanwhile, the toilets that are in use are dirty and smelly and are often unstocked. In some cases, there are no locks on the toilet doors which make members of the public feel vulnerable. Because of this, many are left unused which is both a waste of money and land.

At some places, public toilets are used for other purposes.

On Trieu Quoc Dat street , part of the toilet is used by vendors to sell products such as drinks and telephone cards and the toilet door on Hang Bo street is covered with clothes and belts.

"If anyone asks to use the toilet, the vendors refuse to let them in, saying the toilet is only open in the evening," said one resident from Hoan Kiem district.

Due to the state of public toilets, most of the public try to avoid them.

It is not difficult to understand why a lot of men urinate in the street or behind a tree because of the condition of public toilets that are available.

At the moment, Hanoi Urban Environment One Member State Owned limited company (URENCO) has the responsibility of managing public toilets in the city.

"Besides existing public toilets, the company will install more mobile facilities. We will not allow public toilets to be used for other purposes and violators will get strict fines," said Nguyen Van Hoa, General Director of URENCO./.