Hi-tech waste

A stainless steel two-unit toilet purchased for $1 million by the former administration of the Tunapuna Piarco Regional Corporation (TPRC) is now up for sale. Chairman of the TPRC Khadijah Ameen on Friday admitted that the unused Exeloo toilets, placed between the Eastern Main Road and Priority Bus Route at Curepe Junction, has never been used and the corporation is looking for a buyer.

“From what I understand it costs about $1 million but from the length of time it has been there it would have obviously depreciated,” said Ameen. Whoever is interested can negotiate a price, but since no one in the country had expressed a desire to purchase the toilets, the TPRC may very well be left saddled with T&T’s most expensive public convenience.

Ameen said the corporation had approached the firm the toilets were purchased from but could not give details because of “information that might end up in a legal thing.” She said one of the options being considered is to remove the toilets completely from the bustling junction and install a traditional public convenience for Curepe’s growing population. If the corporation allows the public to use the toilet, it would cost them $42,000 a month to upkeep and maintain.

That figure, Ameen said, was given to the corporation two years ago, pointing out that the price would be more today. Purchased in Australia, the toilets which were installed prior to the Fifth Summit of the Americas in 2009 never worked because a foreign installation crew was supposed to train a team of corporation workers for a year to operate the mechanics of the toilets, which never happened. Some of the features in the toilets, Ameen said, was not practical and the $5 user fee was way too expensive for the small man.

The Exeloo toilets include a manually operated sliding door with concealed door closer, magnetic lock, ceramic tile interior linings, a quality stainless steel toilet pan, security basin with timed flow tap, a metal cased hot air hand dryer, a stainless steel mirror and a jumbo roll toilet paper dispenser. Ameen explained that after ten minutes of use the toilet door would swing open and the user could be caught with his or her pants down. At some point, Ameen said, the toilets will have to be removed from Curepe Junction, stating that the location was a bad choice to begin with.