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A taskforce of 50 cleaners will be disinfecting public areas in Greater Dandenong over the next month.
The workers who lost their jobs as a result of Covid-19 have been recruited to combat the virus’s spread.
They are cleansing handrails, traffic signal buttons, public seating, bus shelters – and – when it re-opens – playground equipment.
Among about 25,000 in the South East who lost employment during pandemic restrictions in March-April, these recruits are trained and supervised by Citywide’s cleansing and sanitisation services.
Their wages are paid by the Victorian Government’s Working For Victoria program.
Mayor Jim Memeti said the mass disinfection would complement the council’s “ramped-up cleansing regime”.
“With restrictions being slowly eased this increased cleaning effort will help reduce the spread of the virus through contact transmission.”
The program helped job seekers and kept the community safe in challenging times, Cr Memeti said.
“The pandemic has caused tremendous disruption to jobs across many industries, so we are very pleased to support a program which gets people back in the workforce, while helping us to keep our city clean and safe,” Cr Memeti said.
“This extra cleaning is also helping set our community up for success as restrictions ease and our public spaces become busier.”
Cr Memeti foreshadowed that the taskforce could expand to 1200 across eight council areas in the South East.
The toil would include planting trees, cleaning waterways and removing graffiti.
