Despite Ho Chi Minh City having a population of 10 million and welcoming 2.1 million international tourists in the first five months, an increase by 13.5% compared to the same period last year, the city is far from welcoming when it comes to public conveniences, with just 200 pay toilets, of which 150 are already near unusable.
La Quoc Khanh, deputy director of the Tourism Department said many attractions in the cities were lacking public toilets such as the Museum of Traditional Vietnamese Medicine or Soai Kinh Lam fabric market.
Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Tran Vinh Tuyen said as many public toilets were abandoned, becoming gathering spots for street gangs or drug addicts. Even the mobile public toilets used at festivals were also of low quality and unhygienic.
Since early this year, the authorities have fined over 1,500 cases of urinating in public and issued hundreds of warnings. First time violators have been fined USD9 and USD13 for a second offence.
Authorities issue fines for public urination
Phan Trong Hung from the District 1 Urban Management Office said lack of decent public toilets was the cause of the problem.
"Building bridges and roads has been our top priorities but public toilets are also part of the infrastructure too. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment can call for private investment to build 1,000 toilets. In return, firms can be allocated land and have discount rental fees so that we can improve the city’s environment," he said.
