Toilet business in the flush of tight competition

One might not take a shower for two or three days -- or even a week -- but who can stay away from toilets for that long? The importance of toilets has inspired people to turn them into a profitable business. The Jakarta Post reporter K. Basrie observed the need for public toilets and the rising business of pay toilets. He wrote two stories on this page.

JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of pay toilets, including portable lavatories, are available at certain points in major cities and towns in Indonesia. As in many other countries, they are located mostly at railway stations, bus terminals and shopping centers.

In slum areas, there are poorly constructed wooden or carton toilets which are rented out for a variety of purposes, including taking a bath and washing clothes.

Unfortunately, there are still many inhabitants who prefer to enjoy the primitive way. Like Tarzan, they just run to the edge of a nearby river or hide behind a tree or bush.

Such activity can be seen during the morning hours at certain spots along the rivers passing through the city's slum areas, such as in Tanah Abang and Tanah Sereal in Central Jakarta.

"I don't think they haven't got any money to pay the toilet fees. They are just lazy people who know nothing about the importance of hygiene," said Mahmud, a senior resident at Tanah Sereal, after pointing at a number of people who were using the polluted Krukut River as a gigantic, open-space lavatory.

What do the people on the other side of the controversy say?

"I don't want to waste my money and time every time I need to relieve myself," said a man who lives with his family under a bridge in the area.

Business

The toilet fees in the city range between Rp 100 and Rp 500 per head. In most places, however, one has to pay Rp 300. Some shopping centers also charge browsers and customers for using the restrooms.

In many cases, manufacturers of pay toilets rent them out to another party. The latter then hires an employee to collect fees and take care of sanitation and maintenance.

The rental fees differ from one place to another, depending upon the location. The average rental fee at "good" places, such as railway stations, bus terminals and shopping centers, is around Rp 5 million per toilet per year. The fee in slum areas is more tolerable, between Rp 100,000 and Rp 200,000 per month.

Jamil from the Jakarta Sanitation Office said none of the fees have gone to the city's budget, except a small amount for disposing of the waste in the city's dump area at Duri Kosambi in West Jakarta or Pulo Gebang in East Jakarta.

The sanitation office, however, hires out its 23 mobile toilets, which cost Rp 45 million per unit, at between Rp 275,000 and Rp 550,000 per 12-hour period.

A toilet operator, who rents the facilities from the owner, is also required to pay water and electricity expenses, a septic tank cleaner and the employees' salaries, which all together amount to between Rp 250,000 and Rp 700,000 per month.

Is it as expensive to operate such a "dirty" business as it sounds?

Not really, say many toilet operators.

With gross incomes between Rp 20,000 and Rp 450,000 per day, the operators could still make remarkable daily profits.

Ibu Oni, 50, a senior figure in the business, said she normally made a total profit of up to Rp 5 million per month.

"I have more than 10 toilets located in Jakarta, Depok and Bogor and make a profit of about Rp 300,000 per toilet per month," said Oni, who has been in the business since 1985.

Her figures, however, differ from those disclosed by one of her employees, Pulung, who she hired to watch over her "project" at Gambir Railway Station in Central Jakarta.

According to Pulung, Oni could earn an average gross income ranging between Rp 200,000 and Rp 400,000 per day -- not per month -- from the one-door booth she rented from the state-owned PT Perumka railway company.

"During peak holiday seasons, I could collect Rp 450,000 per day," said Pulung, who was paid Rp 100,000 per month, excluding a Rp 10,000 daily meal allowance.

Mathematically, Oni could earn a minimum profit of Rp 1.5 million from this toilet per month.

Slum areas

What about the others?

A two-door booth at the Blok M terminal in South Jakarta rented by Zakaria, another noted figure in the lavatory business, could bring in between Rp 100,000 and Rp 250,000 per day.

The watchman, Jaja, is hired for Rp 75,000 per month, with a daily meal allowance of Rp 4,000 a day.

"Students usually pay Rp 100 instead of the official rate of Rp 300, but bule (foreigners) always give Rp 1,000 and refuse to take the change," said Jaja.

The pay toilet business is cooling down slightly in some slum areas.

For example, a seven-door lavatory located at the edge of the Krukut River in Tambora, West Jakarta, could "only" obtain Rp 15,000 per day.

"A few years ago, the business was so good that the daily profits could exceed Rp 100,000," said Hamid another watchman.

Nowadays, he said, only motorists or pedestrians used the toilets.

"It's no longer a good business in this area because new residents have toilets in their houses and there are only a handful of homeless people living nearby," said Hamid, who along with his wife live in a tiny room next to the lavatory.

He was paid Rp 100,000 per month, without a specified amount for meal expenses. Every week, he hands over the money to the local neighborhood chief, who built the toilet.

However, business is good in the neighborhood of Jembatan Besi, another slum area. Watchmen said they could collect at least Rp 80,000 per day.

Although the "dirty" business is an alluring one, many still consider that public toilets in Jakarta are still limited in number. One could spend almost two hours just to find one.

People's reluctance to build and operate toilets are due to uncertainties about the business' future.

"If your toilet could bring in a lot of money, it could easily be taken over by other people who have a better "approach" to local authorities," said Oni.

She claimed that some of the toilets she had built were occupied by people who had more money to bribe the authorities.

Dzakaria, another operator at Gambir Railway Station, said: "I've never really considered whether the competition in this business is as tough as in the other sectors."

The head of the Jakarta Sanitation Office, Subasir, has many times urged the private sector to take part in the toilet business.

"The city needs more portable public toilets at certain locations to serve Jakartans and tourists," Subasir said.

The authorities should carefully choose the right locations for the mobile toilets and maintain them properly because they could spread a smelly aroma. Yet, such a bad smell might be helpful to those badly in need of the toilets, because all they would have to do is follow their nose to find the rank hovels.