ADMITTEDLY, these are strange times.
But many Mildura residents still required a double take this week when they noticed a crew of cleaners sanitising anything from street signs to netball poles.
With our country facing an economic crisis, surely our governments have better ways of spending taxpayer money than this?
Apparently not. After receiving a number of phone calls from bemused Mildura residents this week, Sunraysia Daily asked Mildura Council who was paying for this cleaning crew.
It turns out to be the Victorian Government, not the council, which is footing the bill for a statewide cleaning blitz as part of its $500 million Working for Victoria initiative.
During the four-week blitz, workers will disinfect and wipe down external surfaces such as street benches, handrails and door handles, traffic light buttons, poles, bicycle stands and bins.
While the aim of this program is to create employment for people who have lost work as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, honestly, what will cleaning street benches with sanitiser achieve?
Won’t it all be for nothing once someone comes and sits on that bench? Or once a few people press the traffic light button?
This bizarre program has created short-term positions for 1500 cleaners who will work across 10 regional and 26 suburban communities cleaning public infrastructure, retail centres and shopping strips.
The government says it will “help build community confidence as the staged lifting of restrictions begin”. Mmm?
Mildura was among the local councils to be included in the program, which was another strange choice given we have had just five confirmed cases in total and no new cases for well over a month. Is that really where we need State Government money spent?
In the meantime, a project like the Mildura South Sporting Precinct, which has been crying out for Victorian Government funding for years, continues to be ignored.
Strange times, indeed
KIDS have never looked forward to going back to school this much.
Students from Prep and grades 1 and 2 students, as well as years 11 and 12, return to school this week after learning remotely throughout term 2.
It’s been a tough journey for students, parents and teachers alike, but one that has proven how people can pull together during tough times.
As a parent of a grade 1 student, I’ve been immensely impressed by the school’s handling of an unprecedented crisis. The communication has been first-class, as has the effort of teachers to remain engaged and keep inspiring kids.
Schools have not pretended to know all the answers and have simply asked for parents and the wider school community to be patient and work with them.
They, too, were learning and teaching on the run. Other parents I have spoken to across the region have been equally impressed with their schools.
Other year levels will return to classrooms in a fortnight, which will present further challenges for schools during this pandemic.
Drop-off times will vary, parents will be asked to stay off school grounds and students will be asked to follow guidelines.
But the respect between teachers, parents and students has grown through this crisis and my feeling is we will manage just fine.
And for that, we all deserve a big tick.
