An update from Urban Space Management on Berea under lockdown:

We are happy to report that so far the team is in good health and we have the full complement of cleaners on the ground.

The cleaners were briefed on hand hygiene and social distancing – you might have noticed that our cleaners are standing about 1,5 meters apart when they present on duty.

Further to that, we have equipped our cleaners with gloves and have given each of them a bottle of hand sanitizer that will be refilled on a weekly basis.

Norman or myself have been taking a drive through Berea everyday to monitor the situation on the ground. The streets are relatively empty and businesses are closed. There have been some transgressions but the police has dealt with them swiftly.

However there is an area of concern that we would like to highlight:

While the streets are relatively empty, we have observed people congregating in common areas inside their complexes – by the entrances, parking or benches. Some were even found to be braaing. Where this happens, the building managers should call the police for assistance.

But so far businesses and residents are largely adhering to the restrictions of the 21 day lockdown.

USM LOCKDOWN INITIATIVES

We would like to make a difference during this time.

Currently our cleaners are assigned a block and after lunch we try and assign some “special projects” and focus on areas we don’t always have time for.

See above before and after pictures of some weeding that was done along Joel Road.

There is also an increased focus on removing of illegal posters and working to get the area as clean as we can during this time of decreased foot traffic.

Please let us know if there are any concerns around your buildings that we can assist with!

Camilla Rosanna camilla@urbanspace.org.za