Brushing up toilet image

Press, 11 July 1989, Page 10

Brushing up toilet image

NZPA-AP Kuala Lumpur The Malaysian Ministry of Culture and Tourism is brushing up a campaign to keep public toilets clean before "Visit Malaysia Year 1990.” The campaign is in response to numerous complaints from foreign tourists that Malaysia’s public toilets are not clean or properly maintained. To show how serious the Government is about clean toilets, the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Sabbaruddin Chik, accompanied by members of the press, made a surprise check on public toilets. A picture in a local paper yesterday showed him peering into a toilet bowl. The Ministry also opened a “Toilet Operations Room” on June 30 so the public can phone in complaints. In the first week it received 30 complaints. The “New Straits Times” in an editorial on July 2 has ever had t 0 hofd bis breath in a public toilet will agree that, unbelievable as it may seem,-there is a pressing need to educate Malaysians on how to use toilets and how to keep them clean.” The campaign took a new turn when a 10-man team from the City Hall Health Department inspected toilets and kitchens in four hotels in the capital at the weekend. The ‘New Sunday Times” reported three hotels were issued notices for failing to keep their kitchens clean, while another was warned about, its untidy kitchen and toilet. In the state of Sarawak, on Borneo Island, the authorities have innovated a star rating system for toilets. The cleanest get five stare. . The State says it is prepared to revoke the business licenses of those who fail to maintain clean public toilets. v