User:JustinePorto/Public toilets in Fiji

Public toilets in Fiji are found at bus stations, airports and local markets. Some charge a fee to use. Public toilets are found on a number of different islands in Fiji include the Lomaiviti Islands, Tavewa Island,  Vanua Levu and Viti Levu Island.

Public toilets
While English is spoken in Fiji, other languages are spoken there including Fijian. The Fijian word for toilet is vale lailai. Bus stations, airports and local markets may have public toilets. Some public toilets charged around F$0.65 to use.

In 1989, a project for public toilets at markets in rural areas with a budget of was submitted by the Ministry of Health for USD$40,000 to the WHO/UNDP. After a consultation between Attorney General and Minister for Finance Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Environment Parveen Bala in March 2015, the decision was made to make public toilets free to all vendors who have stalls in government run markets. This brought the markets into alignment with many office workers who could use the toilets at their workplaces for free. For non-vendors, the toilets at public markets remained pay.

Lomaiviti Islands
In the Lomaiviti Islands, there were public toilets near the post office.

Tavewa Island
On Tavewa Island in the 1990s, most of the public toilets did not provide toilet paper.

Vanua Levu Island
In Vanua Levu in 2004, there were public toilets behind the market. Free public toilets in 2004 were also located behind the Town Council office. The route from Savusavu to Labasa in the 1990s did not have any public toilets en route and none were located on the buses serving that route.

Lautoka
There were free public toilets in Lautoka in 2004 at the bus station, in Shirley Park and at the Botanical Gardens. Lautoka Port lacked sufficient public toilets in the 2010s. Those that did exist were in poor and unsanitary condition. Senior cruisers visiting Fiji in the 2010s wanted access to hygienic public toilets when coming ashore at Lautoka Port.

Suva
There were free public toilets located at the Downtown Boulevard Center, the food court at Harbor Center, the Handicraft Market and on Renwick Road in Suva. There were pay public toilets at Sukuna Park for cost F$0.65 to use. The public showers at Sukuna Park cost F$1.10 to use. The toilets were open from 8am to 3:35pm Monday to Saturday. There are public toilets located in Sukuna Park on Victoria Parade, next to the McDonald's, in Suva. They cost F¢70 to use and have an attendant. The hours are limited, open only Monday to Saturday from 8am to 3:45 pm. A 21-year-old woman committed suicide in the public toilets at Thurston Gardens in December 2021.

Public toilets and changing facilities are available at a number of sporting facilities. Public toilets, showers and changing rooms are available at the National Hockey Center. Public toilets are located in the grandstand of the Damodar City Aquatic Centre. The facility also has public changing rooms. ANZ Stadium had male and female public toilets in the concourse. Change rooms also had hot and cold showers, ice-baths and toilets. HFC Bank Stadium has public toilets, and ice bath-utilities.

Samabula
The Samabula public toilets closed at 4 pm during the 2010s. This was a problem as taxi drivers, commuters and expecting mothers could not use the toilets and there were no other ones in the immediate area as an alternative. In 2016, a public toilet in Samabula as demolished and was not replaced. Construction work on a Samabula public toilet facility located opposite the post office began in July 2017 but then stalled into July 2018, with the site around the public toilets cordoned off. Initially, the government announced that the work was supposed to have been completed in November 2017. The public toilets at Samabula were being vandalized in late 2018 and early 2019. The vandals broke light fixtures and the toilet seats. They also stole toilet paper. The damage was concerning because the facility was an important one for taxi drivers who operated in the area.

Regional and global situation impacting public toilets in Fiji
Public toilet access around the world is most acute in the Global South, with around 3.6 billion people, 40% of the world's total population, lacking access to any toilet facilities. 2.3 people in the the Global South do not have toilet facilities in their residence. Despite the fact that the United Nation made a declaration in 2010 that clean water and sanitation is a human right, little has been done in many places towards addressing this on a wider level. Around one in three women in the world in 2016 lacked access to a toilet. In the 1990s, many homes in Fiji lacked running water and toilets. Homes also did not stock toilet paper, with people needing to use water to clean their anal area. Western style sit toilets are more popular among the emerging middle and upper class around the world.

Foreigners visiting the South Pacific in the 1990s were advised to bring their own white toilet paper, and tampons or sanitary napkins as they were not commonly found in the region. Septic systems and any sewage systems were not strong enough in the 1990s for tampons to be thrown into them.

Homosexual American servicemen sometimes used public toilets in bigger cities in the Pacific during World War II as places to have trysts.