Restaurants vow cleaner loos

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: Restaurant associations have pledged to provide cleaner and better-serviced toilets for the comfort of customers and tourists.
Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting said clean toilets in restaurants were like a “value added” service as customers not only want good food but also clean facilities.
The move, he added, was also timely for Visit Malaysia 2007.
However, local authorities would continue to enforce laws to ensure the cleanliness of restaurants, despite restaurant associations urging members to upgrade their toilets, he said.
“This is just an additional effort to ensure that the places are clean. Enforcement will continue,” Ong told reporters yesterday after witnessing a memorandum of co-operation signing ceremony by the Malaysia Singapore Coffeeshop Proprietors Association, Malaysian Indian Restaurant Owners General Association and Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association.
The three associations, with 20,000 members between them, urged members to carry out basic repairs as soon as possible to ensure toilets are in working order, clean, and equipped with tissue paper and soap at all times, without imposing any charge for usage.
“Sometimes when I go into a toilet, I find only a small scoop and a pail of water. You need to have a clean toilet,” Ong said.
The memorandum also requires restaurants to have staff to keep toilets clean.
It was signed in cooperation with the National Toilet Cleanliness Committee, Quality Restroom Association Malaysia and local authorities.
Ong also urged Malaysians to make it part of their culture to keep public toilets clean.
He added that the ministry intended to continue its awareness campaign instead of creating laws to punish those who soil public toilets.