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Volunteers help clear a playground of silt in Shirley - Source: Getty -
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The creators of a Facebook group which encourages students to charge for their services in clearing up quake torn Christchurch have come under fire.
The SPA - Student Profiteer Army - has been created by Rohan Snarlerino and James Allache as a rival to the Student Volunteer Army which has been mobilising teams to help clear up the city.
The new group says: "The recent earthquakes on the 13th June have meant another rally to arms for student volunteers to go and clean up Christchurch. This is great, but students are going through exams and tough times at the moment too. When was the last time someone from Avondale came and offered to help clean up your backyard?"
"It is only fair and reasonable for students to receive some remuneration for their services. That's why we at SPA propose a moderate fee, negotiable between volunteer and land owner taking into account equipment use, depreciation, ACC premiums and most importantly time spent".
While the concept of charging goes against the grain of the community spirit being shown in Christchurch in the past six months, it's one comment in particular that's raised eyebrows.
"We do not know what went wrong with the Student Volunteer Army (SVA), who should be renamed Socialist Vermin Amateurs," the group says.
One student told tvnz.co.nz she found the SPA "completely insults the work of the Student Volunteer Army".
Others, like Dylan Naqova have made their displeasure clear on the group's Facebook page.
"Sorry but u guys are low lifes Sam Johnson and the UC Student Volunteer Army are doin a GOOD job and dont want to do it for money they just want Christchurch to get back on its feet," he wrote.
Johno Atkins said the SPA were only after a "quick buck".
"Mother nature has baught this suffering on the people of
Christchurch and it is good people like the SVA who are doing their
best to reduce the suffering as much as they can," he wrote.
"If you want to get a job, go get one. Don't try and profit from
other people's misery."
Jade Rutherford, one of the organisers of the
Student
Volunteer Army says her group isn't too worried about the rival
group, although admits the description of the SVA "isn't the most
flattering".
"We actually don't have a problem with it. I guess they are just
trying to get their message across and they actually might appeal
to businesses for example, who we aren't able to help," Rutherford
said. She said businesses might be happy to pay students.
The
SVA has almost 27,000 followers
on Facebook and helps private home dwellers and community
services, while the SPA is sitting on around 15 followers with
invitations waiting to be accepted from around 100.
"It will be interesting to see how they go," Rutherford said. "Some
of the comments on their page aren't appropriate but at the end of
the day they are probably just trying to get a bit of income which
is fair enough."
SPA proposes any money received for work should be paid to a collective SPA account and distributed to its members each week.
"That will enable us both to help the struggling Christchurch community and continue to function in our own respective living arrangements."
It says: "As the famous poet Ralph Emerson once said: 'Doing well is the result of doing good. That's what capitalism is all about'."
Comments on the group's page reveal a tongue-in-cheek tone and
are written in what could be described as
a "trolling" style (posting inflammory comments to
draw a response), but the site's creators, visitors and posters
appear serious about being paid for helping with tasks like moving
silt.
They say they expect the minimum wage.
What do you think? Is it fair for students to be paid for their work in Christchurch?
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Add a Comment:
Post new commentHuman01 said on 2011-06-24 @ 12:52 NZDT: Report abusive post
This page highlights a very serious issue facing New Zealand at the moment. Retardation. This page displays chronic stupidity from many people who have taken offense to something that is clearer than clearly a joke. To see a journalist working for new zealand's biggest media outlet fall victim to their own stupidity is absolutely frightening to say the least.
boyonlaptop said on 2011-06-20 @ 11:28 NZDT: Report abusive post
If you read the page it's clearly a joke. Quite frankly this shows the terrible nature of journalistic integrity in this country, reporting on a pathetic non-event on facebook and dishonouring thousands of students like myself that helped out in the clean-up.
NZ girl said on 2011-06-20 @ 11:05 NZDT: Report abusive post
"As the famous poet Ralph Emerson once said: 'Doing well is the result of doing good. That's what capitalism is all about'." So what good are they doing? I think this group sucks, even if they are only trying to be funny, it is in bad taste and undermines the kiwi community spirit which is fragile enough already.