University U-turn: Cleaners back
Cleaning services cut from some Massey University halls have been quickly reinstated after students protested about the shambles.
The university made the embarrassing U-turn just three weeks after leaving some students to sort out cleaning arrangements, such as scrubbing latrines, themselves, while also bringing in a price increase.
Massey spokesman James Gardiner said a miscommunication and staff change had led to the initial decision, and students would be told that cleaning services would be reinstated.
But shared spaces in halls of residence had not been cleaned professionally in the meantime, and some students bought their own cleaning products and got to work.
Students moved in about three weeks ago, and economics student Jiwan Kim, 21, from South Korea, said cleaners had not visited his four-person ‘‘pod’’ in that time. Food spills were layered on the stovetop, scraps were on the floor and the table was unwiped. ‘‘Hundreds of bugs’’ had been buzzing around the room, he said.
He lived in the same ‘‘selfcatered’’ halls last year, where students cook for themselves, do their own dishes and clean their own room, but cleaners clean the shared areas once a week.
A meeting between staff and about 75 students was held on Monday, he said, because there were so many complaints.
‘‘Lots of people have asked why the price went up, and the service was being cut down – they didn’t explain why.’’
The students were initially told a bag of cleaning supplies would be delivered to each hall and Massey would trial ‘‘deep cleaning’’ once a month.
‘‘But once a month is absolutely not enough for students. It’s very annoying because flatting is way cheaper than living in the halls.’’
He said if he had gone flatting he would have been happy to clean, but had chosen the halls for the convenience so he could focus on his studies.
Last year, the self-catering halls cost $157 a week, and this year they were $160 a week.
Sarah Lee, another resident in the affected halls, is a domestic student and said most students in these halls were from overseas. ‘‘They said we have to understand different cultures, that if we went flatting you would have to clean,’’ she said.
Some students had bought cleaning supplies and begun cleaning, but others had not, she said, so the burden of work was unfair.
Students had felt trapped, because shifting once the semester started would have been difficult and expensive, and international students would have to pay a fee if they broke their contract, she said.
The university announced its backdown after being contacted by the Manawatu¯ Standard. Gardiner said yesterday Massey was about to begin letting students know the weekly service would be reinstated.
‘‘We have reviewed this and asked Campus Living Villages, the company that manages the halls under contract to Massey, to resume the regular cleaning on the same basis they did it last year, and they have agreed to do this,’’ he said.
‘‘It wasn’t communicated or managed as well as the student residents should reasonably be entitled to expect, and we will convey that to the residents.’’
Lee could not be contacted to get her reaction, and Kim said he would wait to hear the details from Massey.
‘‘It wasn’t communicated or managed as well as the student residents should reasonably be entitled to expect.’’ James Gardiner, Massey University spokesman