KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming today announced that his ministry will be awarding the best public toilet with the ‘toilet of the year’ as part of efforts to tackle dirty public toilets phenomena.
Public toilets should not be taken lightly as those located in tourist spots and in gateways into the country are what provides tourists with their first impression of Malaysia, he said on Astro Awani programme Agenda Awani tonight.
“I don’t care if people call me the toilet minister because what’s important is for me to solve an issue that is close to the hearts of the people,” he said.
Nga explained the award aimed to improve the country’s public toilets to what he dubbed “BMW-grade”, which were the Malay initials for bersih (clean), menawan (attractive) and wangi (pleasant smelling).
He further said public toilets were essential infrastructure along with good roads, bright street lights, clean drainage systems, and regulations that ease the burden of the people.
The minister said he has been conducting informal inspections in order to assess conditions directly, and has visited public toilets in Dataran Merdeka, among others.
“We (ministers) must not only go on the ground, but be on the ground,” he said.
