Gozitans registered as unemployed and those without a job can earn up to €145 a week for five months under a new scheme called Greener and Cleaner Gozo.

The scheme, which is also tapping into EU funds, has two aims: providing work and cleaning up the sister island.

According to details released by the Gozo Ministry, those who apply to join the scheme will be given cleaning jobs aimed at making Gozo look better, particularly in open public spaces.

Participants, who have to either be registering for employment or are inactive, can opt to work either part-time (20 hours a week) or on a full-time basis.

Part-timers get €75 a week and €145 will be paid for a full week of work.

Asked for more details on the scheme, particularly in view of criticism by the Opposition that its temporary nature is proof of the dire employment situation in Gozo, a spokeswoman for Gozo Minister Anton Refalo said this was just one of the initiatives being taken to boost jobs.

She said that, apart from the fact that the scheme was aimed at “stimulating and attracting the unemployed and inactive people to the labour market”, there were other initiatives being implemented, including the Jeremie and Microinvest programmes through which enterprises and self-employed operating in Gozo were given a tax credit of 65 per cent.

The spokeswomen would not specify the budget allocated to the initiative, although she said the scheme was listed in the financial estimates for 2014.

Though unemployment increased during the past year, the situation in Gozo remained almost unchanged.

According to NSO figures, there were 759 registering for work in Gozo last January, a slight increase over January 2013, when 743 Gozitans were looking for a job.