One of the two defunct facilities

7 July, 2008 - Lack of public toilets is a problem in most Bhutanese towns. But Trongsa town suffers from such a predicament despite having two ‘pay and use’ toilets, which have been out of use for about six years.

So, some civil servants and businesspersons have to either go home or to restaurants and bars to relieve themselves. Villagers visiting town head for the bushes, which is a risky business in summer because of snakes and leeches.

The two public toilets, one below the bus and truck terminal in Thruepang and the other near Kuenga hotel at the northeast part of the town, were built in 2002 to improve sanitary conditions and hygiene in town.

Today, only a few dogs visit the one storey toilet in Thruepang. The municipal sweeper uses the other toilet as a residence. After it was built, the toilets were given on lease to the town’s business community to maintain and use. But the municipality took over then closed down after a few months, as the business committee could not handle it. One reason for the closure was lack of users as the toilets are located outside the main town area. The one in Thruepang is a two-minute walk from town, while the other is at the end of town.

The toilet doors and windows are broken and the lighting systems have been yanked out.

“We had to close the toilets because people weren’t willing to pay,” said Trongsa town chimi, Karma Lethro. “People were not prepared to pay just to relieve themselves,” he said.

When the municipal closed the toilets by locking them, people got frustrated, kicked the doors in and broke the windows.

Karma Lethro said that the solution was to relocate. He said that the matter was raised in the last dzongkhag yargye tshogchung (DYT) meeting, but that there was no response from the dzongkhag administration.

The municipal officer, Karma Tenzin, said that, although the municipal office had planned to repair and reuse the facilities, the municipality did not have funds.

So the Nu 600,000 spent in building the facilities has proved to be of no benefit to the 2,695 residents of Trongsa town.