Tainan County chief launches bathroom clean-up plan, but not all staffers happy

The Tainan County Government implemented a trend-setting measure yesterday by requiring its staff to clean their office bathrooms.

Despite protests from some bureaucrats, County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) said he would stand by his decision as part of his effort to promote good public hygiene practices throughout the county.

Many county employees came to work 30 minutes early, dressed in casual clothes, to clean the toilets. Su took the lead by cleaning the bathrooms next to his office.

Su said he decided to have employees clean their bathrooms after learning that some elementary and junior-high schools in the county plan to outsource toilet cleaning because their students dislike it.

"I think county officials should set a good example for the younger generation by cleaning up their office restrooms themselves," he said. "I hope all county residents can adopt good toilet habits and etiquette."

Su said he would launch a campaign to recruit volunteers to clean all public lavatories in the county to replace the current outsourcing practice. The decision was made to stop using contractors to clean restrooms and come up with a schedule for bureaucrats to clean their own restrooms at a department chiefs meeting last week.

But not everyone was happy with the decision.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) County Councilor Tsai Yu-hui (蔡育輝) said he had received appeals from nearly 50 county employees about the new rule.