About 690 public toilets were upgraded and 40 more were built last year, officials from the Shanghai Public Sanitation Bureau said yesterday.

Upgrading public toilets was one of 10 promises the bureau made last year.

Other promises included upgrading garbage bins, cleaning waste quickly and reducing the noise created by its work teams.

"We fulfilled our promises," said Liu Weiguang, a bureau spokesman. Still, Liu said the bureau is not content to squat on its laurels and that many dirty, smelly and poorly maintained public toilets need to be renovated. He said it would be a priority for several more years.

Among the 690 upgraded lavatories, 405 were in the suburbs. "Residents in the suburbs face either a shortage of public toilets or unsanitary loos," Liu said. "By upgrading toilets we can make a big difference in people's lives."

The city now has more than 3,900 public latrines. The bureau set a target of 5,000 by 2010.

"According to our plan, people should be able to find a public toilet within a 300-meter radius in the Inner Ring Road and 800 meters beyond that by 2010," Liu said.

As for service, more toilet attendants will master simple English and even sign language.

Four toilets -- one in Lujiazui, Yuyuan Garden, People's Square and Xujiahui -- have attendants that speak some English.

According to Liu, the bureau will train more workers this year. The bureau said the demand for public toilets is huge. In Huangpu and Xuhui districts, daily use of each lavatory exceeds 1,000.

(Shanghai Daily January 13, 2006)