News of: Sunday, February 24 2013,
Hardly had the fences of the Amsterdam Royal Palace's latest restoration been removed, or men had there go again.
The natural stone which covers the Palace on Dam Square is easily damaged by urine, but this does not stop men from public urination against the building.
The Palace has now issued a contest amongst companies for the best way to prevent public urination against the building. The company that wins gets the assignment to produce the solution.
Public urination is a rather big problem in Amsterdam, which attracts millions of tourists every year. Particularly old, monumental buildings suffer. The E 130 fine on public urination is given about 3,000 times per year, but this does not help enough.
According to the Amsterdam newspaper Het Parool, public urination is not without danger: every year, men ard found drowned in one of the canals - with their pants open.
Royal Palace Amsterdam
