YOU GOT TO GIVE THE DUTCH CREDIT for being creative, and I say this without a hint of irony: the city of Amsterdam hires alcoholics to clean the streets and pays them... with beer:

For a day's work, the men receive 10 euros (around $13), a half-packet of rolling tobacco and, most importantly, five cans of beer: two to start the day, two at lunch and one for after work.

"This group of chronic alcoholics was causing a nuisance in Amsterdam's Oosterpark: fights, noise, disagreeable comments to women," said Gerrie Holterman, who heads the Rainbow Foundation project, financed by the Dutch state and donations.

"The aim is to keep them occupied, to get them doing something so they no longer cause trouble at the park," she told AFP.

I don't know about you, but it makes perfect sense to me.