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45
III.—SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE AREA.
The Public Cleansing Officer has kindly supplied me with particulars of scavenging
the salient alterations in the activities of the Public Cleansing Department
during the year:—
(a) Street Cleansing.—-The whole of the street cleansing service was
reorganised to commence on the 3rd March, 1934. Revision was made
in the working hours of the employees so that cleansing operations
were carried out from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. in two shifts each day
(Monday to Saturday inclusive).
Night work, on which approximately 120 employees were
previously employed, was abolished, with the exception of a skeleton
staff of 20 men, and mechanical sweeping, watering and gully
emptying. The displaced employees from night work were
transferred to the day shifts.
As a result of this reorganisation, all streets are swept at least
once daily, some twice a day, and many thoroughfares receive constant
attention, during working hours.
Before the reorganisation the streets were swept by men in
gangs, the refuse being swept into heaps, which were subsequently
loaded into a horse vehicle, but under the new system the employees
work on the "beat" system, i.e., men, working with orderly trucks,
are responsible for cleansing a specified area, and the sweepings are
picked up immediately and placed in their orderly truck, to await
collection by motor vehicle which takes the refuse to the disposal
centre. (Motor vehicles have replaced horse vehicles in furtherance
of the scheme.)
The results have fully justified the extensive changes made and
the efficiency of the service has been considerably increased, whilst
the unsightly heaps of sweepings awaiting removal, have been
obviated, undoubtedly in the public interest, both from health and
aesthetic points of view.
Three new petrol gully emptiers have been purchased (and the
use of steam vehicles on this work discontinued,) the new vehicles
giving a very improved service in gully cleansing. One new sweeping
and swilling machine was also purchased during the year under
review. All these new machines are engaged both day and night.