Is it worth $645,000?
The city of Vancouver seems to think so and why not? Any idiot can see that installing a single toilet in a downtown park will most assuredly solve homelessness. So because it will solve such a huge problem, we don’t mind spending $645,000 on it. Don’t hold your breath on that though, it hasn’t been installed yet so as a government project it will most assuredly run 30 to 40 percent over budget.
The good thing is that we managed to find a prefab unit built in Portland that only costs $150,000 (the other 500K is for installation). We had to go to Portland because we feeble minded Canadians are incapable of producing a tin can with a single prison style toilet in it for more than $150 K. Holy shit! This is a big shitty deal.
The funding comes from a government program called the “Community Economic Recovery Infrastructure Program” with 100 million dollars available for such programs. The trough is wide and deep, so I guess it’s a use it or lose it situation. I wonder why they didn’t opt for the gold toilet or at least a 2 holer.
Does it really solve a problem?
There is a huge homeless problem in Vancouver and there is nowhere for these people to use a washroom so they have to endure the humiliation of having to squat in the street. To someone who is homeless $650,000 might as well be 650 million and 1 extra toilet is meaningless.
Calculating the current minimum wage of $13.50 per hour it would take 26 years to pay off that one toilet. How can you possibly justify this to a homeless person that wonders where their next meal is coming from. I just don’t understand what kind of thought process goes on here. Somebody please explain how this ONE toilet could more beneficial than spending such a sum in another area.
One last thing. It is going to take 6 months to get this project handled. I wonder what kind of bureaucratic crap is going to go on in order to get this thing installed and if the cost of all that has been calculated in the total project cost. Isn’t it great when you are not responsible for paying for the things you buy.
BONUS: It’s only going to cost about $30k per year to maintain this ONE toilet. I wonder if they include fresh towels with that?