UPDATE (29 May, 1pm): In response to MS News‘ queries, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SMRT released a joint statement explaining the situation.
They said that the faulty toilets were “caused by malfunctioning sensors in the water closets which have since been replaced by the supplier”.
Thanking commuters for their patience, they also apologised for the inconvenience caused.
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Napier is one of the 11 new MRT stations that opened in November last year as part of the Thomson-East Coast Line Stage 3 (TEL3).
While it’s only been about six months since the launch, it appears there are already some issues with the public facilities — namely, the toilets.
According to a commuter, five out of the seven cubicles in the women’s washroom are out of order.
On Monday (22 May), Shin Min Daily News reported that one of its readers had written in to complain about the toilets in Napier MRT Station.
She claimed that when she went there recently, five out of the seven cubicles in the ladies’ room were faulty.
“The toilet is quite big, and there are seven cubicles inside, but only two are working,” she told the paper. “This is ridiculous.”
When a reporter went down to investigate, they saw “out of order” signs pasted on four of the cubicle doors, which were also locked.
While the wheelchair-accessible toilet did not have a sign on its door, it was also locked, suggesting it was also down.
Only two cubicles — one with a squatting toilet and the other with a sitting one — remained available.
A nearby staff member told Shin Min Daily News that the toilets have been faulty for quite a while.
When she came to work last month, she noticed that a few toilets were spoilt. This gradually became worse, until only two cubicles were usable.
The worker also could not understand how an MRT station that hasn’t been operating for that long could already have five defective toilets.
However, she heard there are plans to send someone to repair them soon.
She also pointed out that there usually aren’t long queues in the toilet as the station has low footfall.
As for the men’s side, 48-year-old Mr Wang shared that out of the three cubicles inside, the wheelchair-friendly one also sports an “out of order” sign.
Additionally, one of the sinks appears to be out of commission.
MS News has reached out to SMRT for comment and will update this article once they get back.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Wikipedia and Shin Min Daily News on Facebook.
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