Toilets: Kota Kinabalu International Airport upgrade, Kionsom relocation
Published on: Tuesday, January 30, 2024
By: Sidney Skinner
The Kionsom Public Toilet is due to be shifted to a new location.
MALAYSIA Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is set to upgrade all 29 sets of toilets at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA), with the first phase of this refurbishment due to get underway in the first quarter of the year.
City Hall, on the other hand, is looking for a suitable location on which to site the Kionsom Public Toilet as the existing building is due to be dismantled to make way for the expansion of the main road nearby.
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An MAHB spokeswoman said five sets of toilets would be dealt with as part of Phase One of the upgrading effort, with a tender for this improvement published at the end of December.
A worker with one of the MAHB’s contractor polishing the pipe connected to this urinal at the KKIA.
“We are currently in the evaluation process,” she said. “The upgrading work is expected to begin in March and be done by June.”
“The remaining 24 sets of toilets will be improved in stages under the subsequent four phases of the refurbishment.”
She explained that the sanitation facilities at the KKIA comprised men’s, women’s and handicapped toilets, as well as nappy-changing rooms.
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She was responding to feedback from an airport-user about “some rusty sink pipes” inside one of the men’s toilets on the premises.
The spokeswoman said an inspection was made of the toilets in question shortly after the company became aware of this irregularity.
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“MAHB staff at the KKIA found that the chrome plating for the pipe connected to one of the urinals had lost its sheen and become discoloured.
“Contrary to what the passenger believed, the pipe was neither damaged nor rusty.”
The chrome plating for this fixture had become partially tarnished.
She said action was taken later that same day to polish this fixture.
“Maintenance is carried out on the toilet fittings as and when it becomes necessary to do so. This depends on the severity of the defect to the fixture.
“If it is a minor defect, we will immediately have it rectified. If it is a major one, the repairs may take anywhere from three days to a fortnight.”
She said the availability of the necessary spare parts factored into how quickly this work could be performed.
Meanwhile, the public toilet besides the Inanam roundabout – near the turn off to Jalan Kionsom from Jalan Tuaran – will remain closed while City Hall sources for the funds and scopes out a new location on which to resite the structure.
The building has been padlocked since October, much to the chagrin of those who frequent the old shophouses in this part of the town and the Taipan commercial centre.
A spokesman for the agency said the building was shuttered as it had been deemed a safety risk to users due to the damage to the roof and ceiling inside.
“Further irregularities were spotted during a joint inspection between staff from our Environmental Heath and Engineering Departments towards the end of November,” he said.
Engineering and Environmental Health personnel are seen during their inspection of the toilet in November.
“These personnel noted that the piping system was in need of attention, as were the some of the walls and many of the toilet fixtures.”
He said wear and tear had taken a toll on the toilet in the decades since it was first constructed.
“The building was set up in the days when we were still referred to as the ‘Kota Kinabalu Municipal Council’.
“Thankfully, the sewerage servicing the toilet is still holding up but almost everything else has become ‘usang’ (worn down).”
These findings were tabled during a meeting to discuss what to do about the building last month, according to him.
“We were made to understand at that point of another local authority’s intentions to implement some road improvement work to ease the bad jams that form at the roundabout.
“The Kionsom Public Toilets would have to make way to accommodate this effort.”
The spokesman appealed for greater understanding from the public, while City Hall worked to iron out the details involved with the relocation.
He advised those who needed to ease themselves to use of the toilets at the eateries in the vicinity for the time being.
“There is also another public toilet near the Inanam market which they can go to.”
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