After a city official described its urine-soaked streets as a “disgusting mess,” open-air urinals are being introduced into the downtown area of Sydney, Australia, to discourage drunks from peeing in public.
The al fresco toilets, also seen in some European and Canadian cities, are aimed at stopping people from urinating on residential doorways, in bank ATM lobbies and on the streets.
Sydney’s center apparently is so plagued by public urination that the local council claims it faces a yearly clean-up bill of $7 million, and it’s desperate to stem the tide.
“It’s disgusting, and residents shouldn’t have to put up with it,” Suzie Matthews, Sydney’s late night economy manager, told Sydney Media.
“The city over the years has received complaints from residents and business owners about literally people urinating on their front doorsteps, in their front gardens, on their building walls.
“[Sydney] faces huge clean-up bills after each weekend and cleaning up this disgusting mess costs ratepayers more than $7 million a year.”
According to figures local police provided to 9News, arrests in Sydney for offensive conduct — including public urination — increased 30 percent over the past 24 months.
“Urination is frequent on Sydney streets, as there is not enough access to public toilets,” Michael Stern, a former resident of Cleveland, Ohio, now living in Sydney, told AOL News.
“It’s acceptable in Sydney because [it’s believed], ‘When you gotta go, you gotta go,’ but this never happened in Cleveland. It was too cold.”
Still, Stern doesn’t look forward to using the open-air urinals.
“I wouldn’t use one of these,” he added. “It doesn’t look like you can wash your hands.”
The New South Wales state government endorsed the introduction of the urinals, claiming it would stop anti-social behavior.
“We’ve been aware of a problem for some time with public urination,” a spokesman said. “If facilities are not there, people will use it as an excuse to do it anywhere.”
The Sydney urinals are designed for use by men only; no solution has yet been offered for women caught short on the city’s streets.
It is proposed that the urinals be installed on Friday and Saturday nights and removed each morning.
Public urination hit Sydney headlines last week after two professional rugby league players were arrested for allegedly urinating on a storefront.
What good wil this do for women? How will they be able to use them?
Grandbay bustop needs these urinals. It is difficult to shop at Issa’s because of the overwhelming stench coming from te Grandbay bustop.
I wish the mayor would learn something here, as a yearly visitor to Dominica, i have to train my bladder to hold on until I reach my destination, and that is not good for my health. Beside this restroom by the Roseau bridge, i have not seen any other place to releave one self, are there any restrooms that the tourist can use? It’s disgusting to smell the shit all along the west coast road, and pee in the towns. Come on mayors! you all can do better
These urinals can work well only where people want to be decent, care for their environment, respect other people’s property, and/or can get professional help if struggling with a drinking problem.
They will be ineffective in places where folks cannot be bothered, want to drink excessively and irresponsibly or have no place to help them with a drinking problem.
More education needed!
I am calling on the governments of the cities of roseau and portsmouth, in particular mayors cecil joseph and vernon daniel, to introduce these open air urinals so them mister peepees will stop abusing people’s fense and walls will their stinking peepee and those people properties will stop get blose from peepee. magway sa…dog peepeeing on transport tire and mayor cecil joseph set up a pound to jail all stray dogs. man peepeeing on people fense and walls…sidewalks and drains, i not hearing mayor cecil at all. is to see how they (those mister peepees) does just take out their hose and pour out peepee smelling up the place just like that. every where you pass in roseau and portsmouth smelling peepee. so guys (cecil and vernon) please pass bye-laws to stop that peepeeing every where in roseau and portsmouth…unless all you want them cruise ship to start complaining and say roseau and portsmouth smelling of too much peepee so they not coming back
wouldn’t that give pervs an excuse to show in public,,, imagine this being in roseau and school children passing on the street,,, u know them pervs would pull out their rod especially and peeing would be the perfect excuse
MOTS, they will only istall them during the night time. Day time is intermission.
They need to install some in Grandbay too!!
Please do something about public urination in Dominica. It’s disgusting and unsanitary.
yah cuz when I drunk I will remember to come right dere n pee..uh huh …epic fail!
DOH BEND DOWN, DOH BEND DOWN………………..THOSE WOMEN WILL HAVE 2 WALK WITH THEIR CUP
We need plenty like that in D/ca. To many times especially after festive seasons Roseau streets smelling peepee.
Ewwwwwww messy. Why not close on some of the pubs and increase the alcohol prices? SMH and who says a drunk will go and search for one of those fancy pits to pee in mate? I don’t think so. LOL
these poor aborigines
this is how they solbe their problem of alchoholism
i think they should continue peeing in the streets
it’s their way of sticking it to them