KCCA, property owners clash over toilets

Confusion. Officials at KCCA claim they have had meeting with owners of buildings in the city to abolish the fees on toilets in their buildings, but the building owners say they have never had such a meeting.

Answering the call of nature is something any human being has to experience. But doing it in poorly- maintained sanitation facilities makes it unpleasant.

This is the reason why in many public places, one is required to part with some money to cater for the cleaning of the facilities.

But in modern societies, the practice of paying for toilets is considered backward. It is against this background that Kampala Capital City Authority wants all commercial building owners to stop charging fees from individuals who use toilets located on their malls.

Although KCCA claims that they have held meetings with the building owners with a view to convincing them to abolish the levy, the latter insist they haven’t attended any such meeting.

“That is news to me .We haven’t held any meeting with them (KCCA) and I don’t know what they are talking about,” said Mr Godfrey Kirumira, the patron of City Commercial Building Owners.

KCCA spokesperson Peter Kaujju said the city regulations dictate that tenants on commercial buildings must enjoy free toilet services.

“We have so far held some meetings trying to explain to them what city regulations say about that practice and we believe they will listen. It is really unfair to turn it (toilets) into a business because it is their obligation to provide such service free of charge,” Mr Kaujju said.

To use public places of convenience on commercial buildings and taxi parks in downtown Kampala, one is required to pay Shs100 for short calls and Shs200 for long calls yet those on the streets like Kampala Road and Jinja Road charge Shs200 and Shs300 for short and long calls respectively. Those getting ablutions and bathing pay Shs200 and Shs300 respectively.

But from July 1, KCCA abolished payments at 11 of the city public toilets to see how practical it is to manage the facilities without charging users.
assenkabirwa@ugnationmedia.com