RM500,000 for each smart toilet

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: Half a million ringgit for a public toilet?
That is how much City Hall Kuala Lumpur is expected to spend on each of the 20 smart toilets to be placed throughout the city.
A City Hall official said about RM10 million had been allocated to place the hi-tech, self-cleaning toilets in busy areas.
"The allocation is part of City Hall’s move to upgrade the capital’s image for next year’s Visit Malaysia Year," he said.
Each smart toilet will have two cubicles.
The smart toilet apparently will come with an automatic seat cleaner capable of washing, scrubbing and drying the seat after every use.
The high cost of the toilets is also due to its ability to wash the entire toilet floor after every five users, the official said.
Additional cost is also attributed to the toilet’s capability to signal a warning after 14 minutes to those using the toilet.
Every user is allowed 15 minutes after which the automatic door will open by itself and users will have to slot in additional coins into the machine.
Users will be charged RM1 each time to use the toilets measuring 2.25m x 5.25m, with a height of 3.25m. So far, two smart toilets have been placed in the Bukit Bintang area.
A project manager involved in the sanitation and construction industry said that similar toilets were available in European countries.
"Each smart toilet, if converted from pound sterling to ringgit, would cost about RM120,000. And if the toilets were assembled locally than the price should be about RM200,000," he said.
While the smart toilet costs City Hall RM500,000 each, the project manager said a basic four-cubicle toilet with two urinals and two wash basins usually costs between RM50,000 and RM60,000.
In England, he said, users were charged £1 to use the smart toilets.
"I totally agree that the smart toilets will lift the image of public toilets. But it should not cost so much," the manager added.
Meanwhile, Datuk Bandar Datuk Ruslin Hasan declined to comment on the cost and the features of the toilet.
Ruslin added that he would call for a Press conference on Thursday to make an official announcement.