'You couldn't eat it': Food for tower residents left in corridors as deliveries delayed

Public housing residents banned from leaving their buildings say food supplies have been inadequate on the second day of hard lockdowns affecting 3000 people.

Brian, who lives in a North Melbourne tower and did not want his surname published, said residents had been left in the dark about the delivery of supplies and COVID-19 testing.

Food is delivered to the Flemington estate on Monday.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

"There's been no communication, they don't tell you anything," he said.

Boxes of donated food had been left in communal corridors, including frozen meals that had thawed, and pies that were cracked and broken, he said.

"I can't eat it because I'm no gluten or anything like that, but the other people - you couldn't eat it, no way."

Premier Daniel Andrews on Monday morning said bread and milk had been delivered to every apartment in lockdown.

That was flatly rejected by Vas Crabb, who lives in a tower at Holland Court, Flemington.

Mr Crabb, who had a few days' worth of fresh vegetables, said the situation had improved by Monday evening.

Firefighters and police officers delivered two boxes of groceries donated by Coles to each apartment, he said. The boxes included pasta, oats, rice, canned vegetables, soup and fish, long-life milk and toilet paper.

"It's a relief, even if people aren't being told about it," he said. "But there's still a lot of uncertainty and still a low of people worried."

Two pies left outside the door of North Melbourne towers resident Ahmed Dini.Credit: Ahmed Dini

Somali community leader Ahmed Dini lives on the 19th floor of one of the locked-down North Melbourne towers, and said DHHS had not contacted him at all on Monday to discuss food deliveries.

He said someone had dropped off some pies at his front door at 2am on Monday morning, and this was the only food he had received. "Everyone in this tower is worried about food."

"We have got community leaders on the ground who are saying, 'This is what we want to do'. And DHHS is having meetings about it, and meanwhile that food is not getting to us. When it comes to locking up people, you can’t have bureaucracy like this stopping things like food."

Tekeste Hailu, who lives in the Flemington flats with his 73-year-old grandmother, said the box he received had expired food in it. It had jam with no bread, cereal with no milk.

He said there were a lot of people still hungry until Monday. "Especially the older generation, a lot of older people here who have no one on the outside who can deliver food to them," he said.

There has been a massive effort to raise funds and provide meals, but charities cannot deliver food to apartments due to the lockdown.

Food left outside a lift at Melrose Street, North Melbourne, on Monday.

FareShare provided 7000 meals to the North Melbourne towers on Sunday, and has set up cool rooms using generators at both estates, its head of community Lucy Farmer said.

She said the meals were labelled with ingredients and heating instructions and DHHS was expected to translate those labels on Monday.

The Victorian Trades Hall Council raised $287,000 from 6000 donors to help residents in the locked-down commission flats over the weekend.

Secretary Luke Hilakari said the Trades Hall had partnered with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and social enterprise Streat to use some of the money to distribute food. He said around 2000 vegetarian and halal food packs went to the towers on Sunday, and around 1000 had been delivered to Flemington on Monday.

A spokeswoman for ASRC said it would deliver its first meals at 8am on Tuesday, having committed to cooking 1000 meals a day.

Due to the strict lockdown, she said the government would then distribute the meals to households using personal protective equipment.

Supermarket giant Coles is helping to deliver groceries to the tower residents. Chief operating officer Matt Swindells said the company would donate 1000 boxes of essential grocery items and 1000 boxes of fresh food. The company has also donated seven pallets of personal care items such as toiletries, nappies and infant formula.

Woolworths is also working with the government, Foodbank and FareShare to deliver pallets of milk, fresh bread and baby formula, as well as 1500 bags of pantry staples and 1500 bags of fresh fruit and dairy.

Housing residents can call 24-hour support line 1800 961 054. If you need a translator, first call 131 450.

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