Seventy bus drivers in Hamilton have had it with their substandard portaloos.
They have been contending with them over the past five weeks, and say there seems to be no end in sight.
In the first week the unisex portable loos were in plain sight perched on top of a trailer in the car park, reports Stuff.
Hamilton City Council says that in addition to the portaloos drivers have access to public toilets at the Hamilton Bus depot, which they share with the public, often resulting in queues.
“I was busting, so I just sat down,” one female bus driver is quoted as telling Stuff. “Then, as soon as I sat down, I could feel my butt was wet and I could smell the urine.”
First Union bus organiser Rudd Hughes is not surprised.
“Bus drivers are treated as the lowest rung on the ladder,” he is quoted as saying. “The infrastructure that transport companies put in place for bus drivers is appalling.
“They don’t care about the drivers and I can understand why their morale is low.”
Several bus companies – including Naked Bus, Go Bus, Intercity, and buses serving regional routes – share the Hamilton City Council-run transport depot in Anglesea St.
The portable toilets have been installed at the depot because the site had been subdivided and the sewerage system connections that were available were sold off.
The portable loos are so small that some of the larger drivers have to back into the units because they can’t turn around once inside, reports Stuff.
The worst part about this is that these toilets are out in full view of the public, a male bus driver is quoted as saying.
“You can just see the morale is going down. It is more the stink and the hygiene.
“When they do come and clean, all they do is hose it out with a hose and let it run down the bloody thing.”
The drivers are allowed to use the public facilities in the depot when the depot is open and the 24-hour facilities at the depot. However, the drivers dislike sharing such private facilities with the people they are serving.
Hamilton City Council owns the land on which the transport centre is located as well as the land adjoining the transport depot.
“This is absolutely no reflection at all for the high esteem the council holds for them,” strategic property manager Nicolas Wells is quoted as saying. “They do a tremendous service through the city in providing a key piece of transport infrastructure and the transportation system.
“We haven’t set out by any means to do this to be a snub in the bus drivers’ eye.”
He believes the situation came to a head in part due to miscommunication as the council was unaware of how dirty and full the toilets were. It has addressed the issue though by cleaning the portaloos daily in comparison to the prior twice weekly clean.
“The portaloos are temporary, they are not intended as a long-term solution and they will be replaced,” Wells is quoted as saying.
But he could not be specific as to when new toilet facilities would be built as there are multiple factors holding them up such as a sewerage line and sourcing contractors, reports Stuff.
“There are simply not enough tradies in the Waikato,” Wells is quoted as saying. “Also, the roads would need to be partially dug up.
“We are working as hard as we can to solve it, but it’s still possibly a couple of weeks away.
“The drivers are able to use the toilets and showers when the transport centre is open.”
He told Stuff that there are also 24/7 toilets in the transport centre car park.
“So we thought we pretty much had it covered.”
Wells has invited any disgruntled bus drivers to talk directly to him about their toilet issues.
