KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 ― The Rantau Abang public toilet at the Rantau Abang Conservation and Information Centre, has been named among the best toilets in Asean.

The clean and user-friendly toilet, with its attractive landscaping, won the ‘Asean Public Toilet Standard 2019-2021’ award in conjunction with the Asean Tourism Forum in Ha Long City, Vietnam, last Friday.

It is among four toilets in the country and the only one in the east coast region to meet the criteria set for the award.

The other three toilets are at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), Restoran Foh San in Perak, Masjid Cina Melaka and Plaza Merdeka in Sarawak. 

Dungun Municipal Council president (MPD) president Lizan Che Mat said winning the award was the biggest achievement for residents and staff of MPD, especially those who worked hard in implementing the various initiatives to maintain the cleanliness of public toilets in the municipality.

"The Rantau Abang public toilet beside the Rantau Abang Conservation and Information Centre definitely is given the most attention by MPD because it is at a tourist destination in the state and a place known for turtle landing.

"The toilet is well-equipped and provides a good rest area because it has bathrooms and place to rest, and has a beautiful landscape,” he said when met by Bernama.

 According to Lizan, the toilet has been given a five-star rating and won several awards, including in competitions organised by the Housing and Local Government Ministry since 2016.

He said various programmes to further improve the Rantau Abang public toilet, as well as 15 other public toilets in the municipality, including enhancing their cleanliness and lanscape.

"MPD has been approved an allocation of RM30 million by the Housing and Local Government Ministry for 2019- 2021 for landscape development to enhance the well-being and quality of the local residents. 

"So, we will utilise part of the allocation to repair public toilets, as well as make them more lively by improving the landscape to give public toilets a new image, not as a dirty place.

"The public toilets may look small, but they can actually give an impact on the tourism sector because from there tourists can evaluate the mentality and attitude of the local people,” he added.

Meanwhile, a cleaner at the Rantau Abang public toilet, Faridah Chaiman said she used fragrances made from natural ingredients, such as pandan leaves which absorbs the toilet odour and gives it a nice smell.

 Faridah said she has been picking pandan leaves from plants that grow near the toilet since five years ago.

"Everybody likes the smell of pandan leaves, the aroma is sweet. They are some people who requested for some of the pandan leaves when they stopped here to use the toilet,” she added. ― Bernama