People who urinate in public are ruining Islamabad’s image as the cleanest, most civilised city in Pakistan, a newspaper said on Monday.
In a front-page article under the headline ”Public peeing: It’s disgusting, but who cares?” the Daily Times detailed how the problem is caused by the expensive, unhygienic and often broken facilities provided by city authorities.
”Instead of paying to use a dirty toilet, I prefer to use an open place to relieve myself,” one man, who declined to be named, told the newspaper.
Shumail Khan, a street vendor, said he earns 400 rupees ($10) a day and cannot afford to pay five rupees to go to a public toilet every time he needs to urinate.
”The Daily Times tried to speak to men who had just attended nature’s call in the open, but they all ran away,” the paper reported.
However, one man said that in many of Islamabad’s public amenities ”there was always the risk of a water shortage that often landed the toilet user in a critical situation”.
One woman said she does not use public toilets ”due to unmentionable reasons”.
People should go to the loo before they go to work to avoid embarrassing other commuters, Nazar Muhammad, a government employee, advised.
”Islamabad is beautiful but people urinating and even defecating at public places — especially near bus stops and along roadsides — are putting a scar on it,” the newspaper said.
Islamabad, which was established in 1961 as Pakistan’s administrative capital, is built on a grid plan with numerous open spaces, wide avenues and tree-lined streets. — Sapa-AFP