After eight years of living in the public housing tower on Wellington Street in Collingwood, Safia Solleman has recently started doing voluntary, but she feels necessary, tasks for the dozens of people who live on her floor, such as emptying trash cans, mopping floors, and disinfecting washing machines.
“I clean the floor, the washing machine, and the trash cans by myself,” the forty-year-old said, referring to his artificial leg as a permanent disability.
Cleaning and maintenance have drastically decreased over the last two months, according to Solleman and other residents of the 20-story tower. They bemoan the growing amount of trash, the sticky floors, the vomit in the elevators, and the filth in the common areas, which they claim were cleaned more frequently.
After six years of living in the Wellington Street tower, Liban Isse has been washing his shoes in hot water every time he gets to his apartment door, as he avoids the sticky hallways and elevators.
When The Sunday Age visited the tower on Friday, he stated, “They used to wash the [floors] with chemicals and they used to remove [the filth], but they do not anymore.”
The building manager told the residents there is no budget for additional cleaning resources for public areas, despite their pleas.
Together with the Victorian Greens, the residents are worried that since the government declared in September that 44 public housing towers in Melbourne would be demolished and rebuilt over a three-decade period, there is now less urgency to address requests.
Approximately 10,000 public housing tenants currently reside in the towers; upon development, the number of residents will rise to approximately 30,000, of which 11,000 will occupy social housing.
The government announced in parliament in October that 7100 “social” homes—an increase of 440 units over 28 years—will replace the 6660 current public housing units on the sites.
That month, Simon Newport, CEO of Homes Victoria, a government agency, announced that the first residents of Flemington’s high rises might begin to move out before Christmas and into new developments close by.
The government announced in parliament in October that 7100 “social” homes—an increase of 440 units over 28 years—will replace the 6660 current public housing units on the sites.
That month, Simon Newport, CEO of Homes Victoria, a government agency, announced that the first residents of Flemington’s high rises might begin to move out before Christmas and into new developments close by.
In a letter to Housing Minister Harriet Shing in late November, local Greens MP Gabrielle De Vietri requested the deployment of a roster of five cleaners within the building.
“An apartment building’s common areas would rapidly become unclean in the absence of routine cleaning. The letter, obtained by The Sunday Age, read, “I understand that the cleaning budget was cut about a month ago to leave just one cleaner per 20-floor building.”
