Home ›› 31 May 2023 ›› Corporate
JTI Bangladesh, in collaboration with Bhumijo, a social enterprise that provides cleaning and maintenance services, has inaugurated a clean and hygienic public toilet in Mirpur of the capital.
The toilet, named Swachho center, has been developed by Bhumijo with support from JTI Bangladesh under the JTI Global WASH Initiative, is located near the Masjidul Akbar Eidgah field at Mirpur 1, according to a press statement.
JTI is supporting Bhumijo to develop and operate sanitation centers at busy urban hubs. This is part of the ‘Swachho’ community investment program which works in the areas of WASH (Access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) in low-income communities in urban and rural Bangladesh.
The inauguration of the toilet in Mirpur was attended by Maqsud Hashem, chief town planner of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), Farhana Rashid, CEO and co-founder of Bhumijo, Paul Holloway, managing director of JTI Bangladesh, and other prominent figures from the organisations.
Speaking on the occasion, Maqsud Hashem said, “The city corporation is always pleased to see private organisations coming together to aid the public. We are happy to provide any support necessary to maintain and operate the initiative.”
Md Masudul Islam, co-founder and COO of Bhumijo, said, “Dhaka still has less than 100 clean public toilets for its 21 million residents. This causes a lot of health and hygiene problems, especially among women.
“Bhumijo is working to ensure clean and hygienic public toilets in Bangladesh. We are grateful to JTI Bangladesh for extending their support to address the crisis. I hope Mirpur just the beginning and we will continue ensuring clean public toilets for all.”
Shezami Khalil, head of Corporate Communications, JTI Bangladesh said “We are honored to partner with Bhumijo on this initiative. JTI has been running different community investment initiatives since entering Bangladesh through the landmark FDI in 2018.
“We expect this step would provide a space for the residents of Mirpur 1 to maintain proper hygiene outside of their homes.”
Bhumijo started its journey in 2017 by creating Bangladesh’s first women-only toilet at Gausia market, Dhaka. Currently, the organisation is serving 6,000 people daily through 30 facilities. JTI Bangladesh has supported five of these facilities till date.
