Government involvement critical to engendering professional industry

Dateline: 04.12.2009
Author: Editor

There was much the Australian cleaning industry could learn from the attitudes expressed by leading South East Asian industry association executives at Pulire Asia’s industry roundtable discussion. Faced with similar problems to those of the Australian industry, there was a strong opinion expressed at the forum that government involvement in, and enforcement of, cleaning regulations was imperative.

Pulire Asia was held early December at Suntec Singapore, and was co-located with the World Toilet Summit & Expo.

The cleaning industry round table discussion was led by Milton Ng, vice president of the Environmental Management Association of Singapore, and included Noruddin Idris, president of the Malaysian Association of Cleaning Contractors; Eduardo Manahan, chairman of the Building Owners & Managers Association of the Philippines; John Laws, executive director of the Australian Cleaning Contractors Association; and Arifin Hiantaro, Association of Indonesian Cleaning Service Enterprise.

Australia, Singapore and Malaysia all experience labour sourcing problems and it was agreed that only by creating a professional, decent paying industry, could this issue be solved.

All countries have the same overall objective of developing a professional cleaning industry with quality standards and appropriately profitable pricing structures.

All countries, with the exception of Australia, represented at the Pulire forum have the one single cleaning industry body which is recognised by their respective governments. So, in lobbying terms, the South East Asian countries are at a great advantage to Australia in terms of dealing with governments.

Malaysia’s Noruddin Idris was most emphatic when he said, “there must be standards for contract cleaners in determining quality and costs. While the Malaysian Cleaning Council can play a role in determining those standards, the government must provide the enforcement of the standards.”

Noruddin Idris was very much against industry ‘self regulation’.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore all have well documented strategies and plans in place with various government bodies to advance their cleaning training and industrial relations practices.

Eduardo Manahan, chairman of the Building Owners & Managers Association of the Philippines, told his audience that his organisation is primarily concerned with the efficient and effective transition from in-house to contract cleaning that is taking place in his country. “We are working with contractors on how to handle the new outsourced contracts and the transfer from in-house to BSCs in terms of pay rates and equipment,” he said. Labour and quality also come into the equation.

Much discussion, initiated largely from the floor, at the Pulire forum centred on the development and implementation of appropriate standards.

It seems very likely that in the short to medium term an informal relationship will be formed between the participating bodies that will see ongoing communication on key issues such as standards and labour.

Certainly, the Australian industry can learn a great deal from the attitudes pervading in the north – notably the demand for government regulation.

Pictured are Milton Ng (right) and Eduardo Manahan

All the Pulire Asia photos are at www.picasaweb.google.com/incleanmag

Government involvement critical to engendering professional industry