MTR passengers looking for a public toilet in Mong Kok will have to hold it in: after two years of wrangling, construction of public conveniences at or near Prince Edward station is as far off as ever.
The station was one of three identified by the rail operator in January 2008 as being most in need of public toilets - the others, Quarry Bay and Ngau Tau Kok, now have toilets - but the MTR won't build facilities on the concourse at Prince Edward, and no one will agree to install them nearby.
District councillors had put forward a plan to site the toilet next to Mong Kok police station, but opposition from officers stationed there saw that idea scrapped.
Prince Edward was picked as a priority because there were no public conveniences within 200 metres. Yet after more than two years of discussions by Yau Tsim Mong district council, the plan has got nowhere.
'The MTR always says there are technical problems if they were to build a toilet inside the station. But I see a staff toilet there. Why not a public toilet?' district councillor Henry Chan Man-yu said.
He suggested the MTR's reluctance to have a toilet in the station was down to money: it would receive less rent if a shop had to be removed. Rents there are more than HK$200 per square foot.
The MTR proposed two locations for public toilets: near the police station or at the junction of Prince Edward Road West and Portland Street. Both fell due to opposition.