TOILETS are one of the most basic facilities in any form of public infrastructure and its condition, cleanor otherwise, reflects how well the infrastructure is maintained.
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) recently launched an awareness campaign called “Pay it Forward”, to educate the public on proper toilet etiquette at the airport.
Its customer advocacy head, Suradini Abdul Ghani, said with the tagline “Wouldn’t it be great to think of others? Pay it forward”, MAHB aims to make a difference by championing toilet cleanliness.
“KualaLumpur InternationalAirport (KLIA) and klia2 are gateways into Malaysia, therefore both are considered as the benchmark in shaping the early perception of visitors to the country.
“We hope through this campaign we will be able to educate the public on proper toilet etiquette and encourage them to pay forward the kindness by ensuring a clean and hygienic environment for subsequent users,” she said.
She said keeping the toilets clean was also in line with the government’s call to create a civic-minded society as the country forges ahead in its goal to become a fully developed nation.
“Throughout this year, KLIA has been fortunate to receive a record number of passengers. As of last month, it registered 53 million passenger traffic movements, of which 70 per cent were international travellers.
“Malaysia is known for its warm hospitality and courtesy. Let us think of others and pay it forward.
“Wouldn’t it be great if we, as Malaysians, can help for malasting impression of a courteous nation to nearly 38 million people by extending such courteousness to the usage of our public facilities?” she said.
Suradini said in line with the campaign, various initiatives had been taken by MAHB to ensure its success.
“These include refurbishment of 224 toilets at the main terminal of KLIA, expected to be completed by 2019, and thus 12 toilets have been completely refurbished.”
She said MAHB had collaborated with the Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Ministry to conduct cleanliness audits using the agency’s Toilet Maintenance Grading System.
“Feedback from their assessment has allowed us to better improve the cleanliness of our toilet as well as the cleaning services.”
She said since the implementation of the grading system, cleanliness in both terminals had improved, with 86 per cent of the toilets having achieved four-star rating and above, and 30 per cent achieving five stars last month.
A briefing session and five-star ratings assessment training on toilets was also conducted by the ministry to 170 MAHB staff and toilet cleaning contractors.
“This is to ensure the consistent level of the service.” Suradini said among other measures taken by MAHB were the implementation of a one-minute cleaning procedure during peak hours, installation of vanilla bouquet scenting machines at entrances of hotspot toilets and the use of nanotechnology for toilet wash-down to remove bad odour at the toilets.
“At present, we are using a quickdry alcohol based solution to dry toilet floors and bio tablets at urinals to reduce splash, odour and clogging at the toilets.
“We have also provided toilet inspection officers with mobile phones installed with aToilet Inspection Application to capture real-time information on toilet condition and the number of cleaners manning each at level.”
The Pay it Forward campaign was launched by Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi on Dec 14.