Staff of Parliament clean up for Chinese president

By HELEN TARAWA
THE Parliament staff held a major clean-up job on Friday as part of preparations for the State visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping on Nov 15.
Deputy clerk Kala Aufa, first clerk assistant Basil Kambuliagen and staff cleaned inside and outside the building, lawns and footpaths.
Aufa told The National the cleanup was initiated by Speaker Job Pomat for staff on the last Friday of every month.
“The cleanup today coincides with President Jinping’s visit and it’s a good thing we got everyone out to assist,” he said.
Aufa said the cleanup was called the ‘speaker’s work parade’.
“We will be doing this cleanup every last Friday of each month involving all our staff from the managers to the cleaners,” he said.
“The idea behind it is also to keep the staff fit.
“A lot of our staff are unfit because we sit in the office and let our maintenance team to do the job.
“The clean-up comes at the right time when Parliament will be hosting the Chinese president Jingping on Nov 16.
“Instead of letting the maintenance crew work on their own, we wanted everyone to participate so they take ownership of the president’s visit.
“We received a very good response from almost all our staff on ground.
“We told them to bring all their tools to carry out the job and they did a good job.
“We encourage managers to get out and participate so they can meet other workers.
“We are happy with this activity and the support from all the staff.”