DIRTY WORK BEFORE PARTY GUESTS ARRIVE
HOW big are the Commonwealth Games going to be? We’re talking 63,000 extrarolls-of-toilet-paper big.
“It’ll be like Schoolies on steroids,” Paul McCarthy says of the challenge awaiting his team of council cleaners.
“Like 10 New Year’s Eves in a row,” adds David Alexander, one of his Surfers Paradise crew. “It’ll be full-on in here.”
As the city counts down to the biggest party it’s ever held, its army of cleaners is preparing for the biggest mission it’s ever been handed.
“We’re putting pressure on ourselves but that comes with the territory,” council’s city cleaning boss Michael Kenyon explains.
“As a city, we’re going to be showcased to thousands of people who have never been to the Coast and we need to make sure they are impressed with what they see.”
The logistics involved in achieving that are mind-boggling.
Specific work hubs will be set up in party precincts. Cleaners are being reallocated from areas expected to be quieter. Contingency staff will only be a phone call away.
Then there are those extra 63,000 toilet rolls (on top of the 10,000 normally used each week), as well as an additional 1320 litres of barbecue cleaner, 12,000 litter collection bags and about 200 Portaloos.
“Our crews will be cleaning toilets and emptying bins one by one and once they’ve finished them all, they’ll start again,” Mr Kenyon says of the busiest Games precincts.
“Our more seasoned and knowledgeable staff will be devoted to those hubs to make sure everything is humming.”
With this year’s Clean Up Australia Day on March 4 – exactly one month from the Games – event founder Ian Kiernan will visit the Gold Coast today to urge residents to do their bit to help make the city shine for the big event.
Mayor Tom Tate said: “We are going to be in the spotlight like never before and we want everyone to assist the city.”
To create or join a site, visit cleanupaustraliaday.org.au