At least 32 new sites have been identified for urgent construction of public toilets in the City of Kigali, Dominique Murekezi, the acting director of Water and Sanitation Development at Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC), told The New Times.

People who frequent different busy areas in the City of Kigali have decried the shortage of public toilets along major roads and commercial centres, which they say dents the efforts to make the capital a smart city.

"So far there are 17 stand-alone public toilets in public spaces where many people gather in Kigali, according to a recent report,” he said.

To address the shortage, the private sector is being encouraged to invest in constructing public toilets at the identified sites and charge a fee as a business to improve sanitation.

"Our engineers are identifying more sites in need of new public toilets. So far 32 sites have been confirmed and the assessment continues to identify more sites where public toilets are urgently needed,” he said.

The City of Kigali could spend its own budget to construct public toilets at some of the sites, he said.

Petrol stations ordered to have a public toilet

"We want to work with private developers to make sure their buildings have toilets that are open to all people. For instance, each petrol station has been obliged to have a public toilet,” he said.

Recently, Marie-Solange Muhirwa, Chief of Urban Planner at the City of Kigali, told The New Times that in April last year, the city started to construct public toilets in seven locations and each location has eight rooms of public toilets for both men and women, as well as those for people with disabilities.

According to a recent study by the City of Kigali, there is a need for 176 public toilets.

Model public toilet built in every district

Murekezi said that WASAC was asked to develop typical or model public toilets in all districts for replication.

"We worked with the local government to develop typical public toilets needed at public spaces including roads, markets, bus stations, bus stops among others.

"We provided capacity to the district with the aim to set up a model for public toilets in each of the 27 districts apart from Kigali. So far, 25 typical public toilets have been set up in every district. Only the districts of Musanze and Nyanza remain without the model toilets,” he said.

In 2011, the study by The Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), a multi-donor partnership administered by the World Bank, showed that Rwanda was in need of 70,000 latrines, for people to stop easing themselves in the open.

Rwanda seeks to have access to sanitation and hygiene scaled up to all from 80 per cent in 2016 to 100 per cent in 2024, while waste management systems have to be developed in cities, towns and rural areas.