Shortage of sanitation personnel still a headache for the municipality

The municipality is experiencing a continuous and acute deficit of sanitation personnel despite a recent wage raise. The district heads at a City Hall meeting on Monday complained to the mayor that there weren't enough hands to tidy up and keep the city clean, Info-Prim Neo reports. Centru district head Vladimir Sarban said the situation was due to the fact that people get very little encouragement to take such kind of jobs. Previously, people would be provided with dwelling if they chose to become sanitation workers. According to Dionisie Boaghie, head of the municipal department for housing and public amenities, now the wage of a sanitation worker approaches 1,500, which is thrice the level of what they got earlier. Still most of those who work in the municipal waste management system either rent a place or live in poorly furnished rooms. Although more than 60 new workers have been hired lately, many of those who worked in their places earlier quit for better salaries, Dionisie Boaghie remarked. Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca has stated that the municipality doesn't have sufficient means to solve the dwelling issue for the sanitation employees. “We must look for a solution elsewhere” said he, suggesting the city should get mechanized street cleaning. In December 2007 the charge for maintaining apartment blocks was raised from 0.19 lei to 1 leu, in a move to collect money for a raise for sanitation workers, which was supposed to be the solution to the deficit of hands.