Alcoholics paid in BEER and CIGARETTES to clean the streets of Amsterdam

Alcoholics in Amsterdam are helping to clean the streets of the Dutch city – and are being paid in BEER and CIGARETTES to do so. Officials in the Dutch city came up with the unorthodox idea in order to tackle a growing problem of anti-social behaviour on the streets.

Groups of homeless people are given five cans a day – two in the morning, two at lunchtime and one at the end of the day – in exchange for them helping out in the areas they live. Participants work up to three days a week and each of them is given just £8 per shift along with a half-packet of rolling tobacco.

A group called the Rainbow Foundation came up with the idea and Gerrie Holterman defended the decision to hand more drink to individuals who already have alcohol problems. "This group of chronic alcoholics was causing a nuisance in Amsterdam’s Oosterpark: fights, noise, disagreeable comments to women," she told AFP. "The aim is to keep them occupied, to get them doing something so they no longer cause trouble at the park." She continued: "They’re no longer in the park, they drink less, they eat better and they have something to keep them busy during the day. Heroin addicts can go to shooting galleries, so why shouldn’t we also give people beer?"

source: www.mirror.co.uk

alcoholic – alkoholista
official – tisztviselő
unorthodox – a konvencióktól eltérő
in order to – azért, hogy
to tackle – megbirkózni valamivel
behaviour – viselkedés
homeless – hajléktalan
can – italos doboz
in exchange for – valamiért cserébe
participant – résztvevő
shift – műszak
rolling tobacco – cigarettadohány
to defend – védeni
nuisance – kellemetlenség
disagreeable comment – ellenszenves beszólás
to keep someone occupied – lefoglalni valakit valamivel
to cause trouble – bajt okozni
heroin addict – heroin-függő

Pick the right ending to the sentences.

1. Alcoholics used to

a) cause trouble in Amsterdam’s parks.

b) clean the streets for free.
 

2. People didn’t like

a) the noise and mess.

b) the police who came to stop the fights.
 

3. This solution is

a) quite usual in the Netherlands.

b) new in Amsterdam.
 

4. Officials say that

a) the situation is worse now.

b) the situation is better now.
 

5. The alcoholics are paid

a) in beer, tobacco and money.

b) in beer, food and money.

answers: 1-a 2-a 3-b 4-b 5-a

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-GB
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X-NONE

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