 |
| Street cleaners illustration |
(Scroll down for video) Have no money for beer and smokes? Don’t worry. You can now clean the city streets and receive alcohol and cigarettes as payment.
Amsterdam alcoholics are now being paid to clean the streets with beer, according to a statement released by local officials.
The program began after some alcoholics were causing a nuisance in one of the parks of Amsterdam. Now, through a special program, the crowded city streets are being kept clean.
For a day's work, the alcoholics receive 10 euros or about $13.00, tobacco and five cans of beer. Street cleaners receive two cans of beer in the morning, two for lunch and one after work.
Gerrie Holterman, who heads the project for the Rainbow Foundation, which is funded by the Dutch government and through donations, said that the goal of the project is to keep alcoholics busy and away from fighting in city parks.
"I think I can speak for the group and say that if we do not receive beers we wouldn't be working because we need alcohol to function," Frank, one of the city street cleaners, said.