Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra Gareth Ward said he told Roads and Maritime Services to stop paying for a 24-hour-a-day security guard to watch over an empty house on Croome Road.
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But an RMS spokesman said they were not aware of any such request and that the guard is still there.
Last month, the Mercury broke the news about a security guard being paid to sit outside the house 24 hours a day since August last year.
The government bought the property in April 2017, as part of it falls within the footprint of the Albion Park Rail Bypass.
Last month, an RMS spokeswoman declined to say how much the guard was costing the government but, based on the Security Services Industry Award, the bill could be as high as $4600 a week.
Mr Ward branded the RMS decision as “a joke” and said this week he had requested the guard be removed.
“I told them to pull it because that’s a waste of money,” Mr Ward said.
“What a joke. When I look at these things I think ‘well, do they pass the pub test?’.
“It’s a waste of money and it should never have happened.”
Mr Ward didn’t agree with the explanation RMS gave for the security guard’s presence.
“They said it was for protection of property but I told them I don’t see the need to protect property that is potentially going to be demolished,” he said.
However, an RMS spokesman claimed they had not been told to do this at all.
“RMS is not aware of a request by the Member for Kiama to cancel the security guard at 149 Croome Road,” the spokesman said.
“The property has temporary fencing and a security guard is patrolling the site to ensure public safety and prevent members of the public from illegally entering the property.”
The spokesman added that employing security guards to watch over empty houses was not unusual.
He said it was done “to protect against vandalism, unlawful trespassing and anti-social behaviour and minimise the effects of these actions to surrounding residents.”