In recent days, villagers in Jishan County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, reported that the newly built public toilets in the village, which had invested a lot of money, are often locked all year round. They are only open when there are village activities or when leaders come to inspect, becoming mere decorations that can be admired but not utilized.
According to a report by CCTV’s “Financial Investigation” on July 20, in the past two years, the Jishan County government has invested 2.3028 million yuan to build 23 public toilets. These public toilets look clean and well-equipped, but villagers rarely use them. Some public toilets have never been opened to villagers at all.
A local villager revealed that the newly built public toilets are not intended for daily use and are only open when there are village activities or official visits.
In January of this year, a video released by the “Jishan Media” new media public account in Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, showed that the newly built public toilets were open, indicating that they were completed and ready for use. However, when reporters from the media outlet went to the site to check, they found the toilet doors tightly shut, indicating they were not open for normal use.
As Jijiazhuang Village is considered a “demonstration village and future rural construction project” in Jishan County, the village committee staff explicitly stated that the toilets are kept closed to avoid the hassle of daily cleaning.
Village officials also mentioned that “the villagers here have low quality; after using the toilet, they don’t flush, don’t clean, throw toilet paper everywhere, and many toilets are often clogged.”
Due to the costs associated with using public toilets and concerns about maintenance issues brought on by the “low-quality” villagers, the villages continue to have residents use the old-fashioned dry toilets.
Apart from Jijiazhuang Village, similar situations occur in Xili Village, Baichi Village, Jiayu Village, and Xingjiazhuang Village, where rural public toilets built with financial funds are all locked, rendering them unusable.
On July 21, the Jishan County Publicity Department in Shanxi Province issued a notice stating that a comprehensive investigation has been arranged to check the management of rural public toilets in the entire county to ensure the normal operation of public facilities. Meanwhile, those responsible for negligence and misconduct will be held accountable.
This topic has sparked heated discussions online. Many netizens commented, “It’s the same everywhere, they’re all locked up here too,” “Not just in rural areas, there are many public toilets in cities that are locked all the time. In our community, there’s a newly built public toilet at the bottom, it’s been there for four or five years, never seen it open,” “Public toilets throughout the country are just decorations.”
“Toilets are just the tip of the iceberg. Activity centers, football fields, basketball courts, they are all locked up,” “The maintenance and water costs of these constructed facilities are not small expenses, and economically weak villages find it hard to afford,” “These issues should have been anticipated long ago, why was this project approved? How did it start?” “Many places are forced to build.”
“I guess it’s a political task, demanded by higher authorities,” “Whose pockets did the money go into?”