2023-06-24 12:39:00
Some of the Walloon cafe owners and restaurateurs, located near a tourist site, are furious. They can no longer see tourists arriving, often en masse, and that they return to their establishments only for the toilets, without consuming anything. Faced with this phenomenon which does not stop, they ask the authorities to react.
“They rush in and out, and then it’s a rush in the establishments. (…) Some have even stolen air fresheners, broken flushes. Ultimately, it affects our customers.“, indignant Jean-Marc Duflot, owner of 4 cafes in Dinant. The city says it is aware of the problem.
And yet, public toilets are already present, but it is difficult to clean them daily. A study is therefore underway to install other automated ones. “We can’t afford either, given the number of tourists we have now, to have a lack of attractiveness. And then it must also be recognized that this encourages people not to come and it may encourage some to relieve themselves anywhere“, explains the mayor of Dinant, Thierry Bodlet.
However, installing new public toilets often represents a significant cost. For example, in Namur, 4 automatic public toilets have been installed in recent years. An investment of 150,000 euros per cabin, not including cleaning and maintenance costs. “It is clear that it is an important investment, but the need is there. So, of course, we have to answer it“, underlines Charlotte Deborsu, alderman of public cleanliness.
In cities where these infrastructures do not exist, there is still an alternative for catering establishments: charging for the use of the toilets by those who do not consume.
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