Hanoi haults plan for luxury restrooms

The Ha Noi People's Committee has decided to suspend a plan to build 14 luxury public toilets costing over VND1 billion (US$47,600) each, the committee's spokesperson, Nguyen Thinh Thanh, announced.
Currently, there are 310 public toilets in the four old urban districts of Ha Noi and 170 public toilets in HCM City.— Photo zing
The move was made following public concerns about the ‘wasteful spending' of the project.
Under the project, proposed by the municipal Department of Construction and approved by the city's authorities in November last year, the toilets were to be built at a total cost of VND15 billion (US$750,000), which was to be funded by the State budget.
However, soon after, Trinh Ngoc Thach, vice chairman of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture, Education, Adolescents and Children Affairs, urged the authorities to review the project and avoid wasting money.
He told the Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper that the construction cost of the toilets seemed very expensive, although he admitted he was unsure how the project would be implemented.
The committee's chairman, Nguyen The Thao, also urged the construction department to review the state of the existing public toilets in the city and upgrade those that require repairs. He also recommended mobilising contributions from society for constructing new public toilets.
In HCM City, the Vice Chairman of the municipal People's Committee, Nguyen Huu Tin, has directed the city's Department of Construction to conduct research on building 11 four- or five-star standard public toilets to serve locals and tourists.
The toilets will be built, on a trial basis, at some parks and coach stations at an estimated cost of VND800 million each. Banks are expected to fund the cost of building these toilets.
There will be no charge for using the toilets. The first three toilets are expected to become operational later this month.
Currently, there are 310 public toilets in the four old urban districts of Ha Noi and 170 public toilets in HCM City..