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8 Prison workshops across Italy are joining up under a new commercial fashion brand they hope will help encourage more detainees to learn the trade and give them hope for future, writes Dario Thuburn Hope for future WOMEN prison workshops across Italy are joining up under a new commercial fashion brand they hope will help encourage more detainees to learn the trade and give them hope for a future on the outside. The Sigillo (Seal) brand unveiled by the justice ministry this year will be available in the shops within months — a unique experiment that has given new energy to places like a handbag workshop at Rebibbia prison in Rome. "When I get out I want to have a more normal, a calmer life. With this job I'm sure everything will be okay with me. I've learnt a lot here," said Kalu Uwaezuoke Chinedum Ike, a Nigerian facing drug traficking charges. The 40-year-old works three afternoons a week in a room with sewing machines, cutting tables and bars on the windows. Rows of blue-doored cells can be seen from the workshop in what is Italy's biggest women's prison with more than 700 detainees. After more than three years inside as she awaits the conclusion of her trial, Kalu has acquired a knack for stitching and beading. "I've always been a person who likes dressing well, even when I didn't have enough to eat," she said, adding: "I have a real passion for it!" Prisons in Italy are notoriously overcrowded, and funding has been repeatedly cut in recent years, making for what Justice Minister Annamaria Cancellieri recently called a penal system "that is not worthy of a civilised country". There are a few exceptions — innovative projects like a theatre workshop, also at Rebibbia, whose performance of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" became the award-winning ilm Caesar Must Die released two years ago. After three years of bureaucratic hurdles, promoters of Sigillo hope the project — which has 400,000 euros ($520,000) in funding from the justice ministry and 400,000 euros from charities — will be a similar success. "The aim of the project is to give female detainees the tools to be in the marketplace once they are released," said Nanda Roscioli, a former justice ministry employee and consultant who has been involved from the start. Roscioli said it is also a way of countering a prison system oriented towards male detainees in which women are a "subordinate" minority. "This makes conditions for female detainees harsher, more barbaric," Roscioli said. "As far as I know this programme is unique," she said. Daniela Arronenzi, head of the Rebibbia workshop charity, said she signed up to the non-proit project because it would give prison-made garments access to a wider retail network and something resembling an actual fashion business. "Of course, prison is a place of problems. There is overcrowding, there are budget cuts, but then there is also this," she said. The initial plan is to hire 10 female detainees from workshops across the country and train 40 more who will produce under the Sigillo brand for big fashion names, as well as illing special orders for corporate marketing products. The handbags made in Rebibbia sell for up to 40 euros each. Supporters say the project is not exploitative because detainees will receive a regular part-time salary of 600 euros a month — comparable to their counterparts on the outside — and participation is voluntary. Chinedum Ike and another member of the Rebibbia co-operative, Ukrainian detainee Natalya, currently receive around 150 euros, which they can send to family or spend on food and hygiene products in the prison. The initiative is supported by Silvia Venturini Fendi, heiress of the Fendi fashion business, which is owned by French luxury giant LVMH. For 33-year-old Natalya, who has been inside for three years, making handbags has little to do with glitzy catwalks or commercial success. "For a time, we feel psychologically that we are not inside these walls. That's the reason for programmes like this. To switch off," said Natalya, who is also a proicient guitarist and pianist who plays at Sunday mass in the chapel. "Sigillo is also about personal satisfaction. When we create things and they are sold, are appreciated, then we enjoy our work," Natalya said. THE Swiss will vote on Sunday on whether to approve an emergency tightening of the country's asylum law in a bid to stem the inlux of refugees to the wealthy Alpine nation. A controversial revision, which was ordered as an emergency measure by the government and went into effect last October, marked the seventh change of the asylum law in Switzerland — Europe's fourth most popular destination for refugees. The vote on June 9 — one of four Sunday's this year set aside for popular votes on national, cantonal and communal issues as part of Switzerland's famous direct democratic system — comes after a range of opponents of the revision collected the 100,000 signatures required to call a referendum. Also on Sunday, the Swiss will be called to vote on whether the people should elect the country's seven government members directly instead of having parliament pick them, as it has been doing for the past 165 years. According to recent polls though, that initiative appears set to fail. Opponents of the new asylum law revisions, including human rights advocates, ANALYSIS religious groups and unions who have banned together a collective called "Co-ordination against Exclusion and Xenophobia", also appear destined to fall short in their bid to overturn the changes. Surveys show the Swiss are increasingly leaning towards giving their stamp of approval to the changes, as some balk at soaring War masks volcano threat ELEVEN years after an eruption of Mount Nyiragongo devastated the sprawling lakeside city of Goma, killing hundreds of people, eastern Congo's armed conlict is preventing scientists from predicting the volcano's next deadly explosion. With its plume of ash and steam reaching high into the sky, the brooding Nyiragongo is one of the world's most active volcanoes and a constant menace to the city of one million people, whose streets are still scarred by solidiied lava. Attempts to monitor the volcano's activity have been dangerously curtailed by the M23 rebel group which has controlled its lush, forested slopes for the past year. Observation equipment has been looted by armed groups and the area around Nyiragongo is off-limits as rebel ighters defend their strategic positions overlooking Goma. "What happened in 2002 will happen again. We just don't know when," Celestin Kasereka Mahinda, a vulcanologist at the Goma observatory and head of a national committee charged with planning for natural disasters. Kasereka and his colleagues gave two months' warning before the last eruption but authorities ignored them. People only began to evacuate as the irst ingers of lava probed numbers of refugees locking to the small Alpine nation, which offers generous hand-outs throughout the asylum process. A poll by public broadcaster RTS in late May showed that 57 per cent of those questioned were in favour of the revisions, up nine percentage points from a month earlier. There are currently some 48,000 their way into the town's densely populated residential areas. Goma's airport is still surrounded by lava blocs as big as cars, excavated after the runway was swallowed by molten rock. Kasereka used to conduct weekly checks on Nyiragongo, one of only three volcanoes in the world to have a permanent lava lake. "Surveillance is very reduced so the risk has become very big," he aid. "The situation is a bit ridiculous." Goma's residents are no strangers to danger, natural and manmade. The town sits above a subterranean lava bed 1 km deep in an area, known as the Albertine rift, that is one of the most volcanically active on earth. Neighbouring Lake Kivu contains enormous quantities of methane and carbon dioxide. Experts say seismic activity could release that into the atmosphere, threatening millions of lives. The makeshift camps which ring the city, home to tens of thousands of people displaced by ighting, testify to the nearly two decades of conlict between armed groups, the army and neighbouring countries which have ravaged the region. Militia ighters regularly in- lict massacres and mass rapes on the civilian population. Last year, rebels swept past UN peacekeepers and routed government troops to briely seize Goma, and they once again menace the town's north lank. "We'd prefer gunire to another eruption," said Aminata Yahaya, 38. She barely escaped with her children last time the volcano exploded and returned three weeks later to ind her home ravaged by ire and looted. Speaking in one of Goma's ramshackle markets built on an old lava low, where she sells dried ish, Yahaya said the last eruption had devastated the town. "If there's another eruption, it'll hit the economy: we'll have to start from zero again. Our houses will be destroyed, our people killed," she said. Joseph Makundi, civil protection co-ordinator for Goma, accepts that the security situation has increased the volcano's threat. Not least, he says, is the risk of lava exploding the stockpiles of ammunition which dot the heavily militarised town. In the worst case scenario, authorities would have to evacuate around two-thirds of Goma's inhabitants, he says. Community networks and a lag system — green for safe, red for evacuation — have been put in place for that purpose. Before the last eruption there were signs from communities around the volcano that something was amiss, Makundi says. Villagers found their banana People only began to evacuate as the irst ingers of lava probed their way into the densely populated residential areas, writes Jonny Hogg beer fermenting far more quickly because of raised ground temperatures and children left alone were asphyxiated by poisonous gases. Makundi says residents must be alert for these kinds of warnings. "We must develop an evacuation mechanism without counting too much on the volcanic observatory," he says. "Our logistical capacity to put our plans in place is limited." Observers say Nyiragongo is not immediately threatening. However, neighbouring Nyamuragira, 13 km to the northwest and reputedly Africa's most active volcano, is showing warning signs of a possible eruption. The Volcano Hotel is an eerie reminder of the mountains' threat. The bottom half of the building has been cocooned in solidiied lava, turning what was once the ground loor into the basement, with jagged rocks obscuring the light. Cancild Sadiki Muhindi, the hotel's owner, spent more than a year excavating the lower loor to reclaim it from the lava. But she knows she may well lose it all and has little faith that Congo's government will be of much help. "State, what state? The situation in this country is we don't have a state," she says with a shrug. "The volcano, it's a real problem for me, and my business." Swiss to vote on tightening of asylum law, again A controversial revision, which was ordered as an emergency measure by the government and went into effect last October, marked the seventh change of the asylum law, says Marie-Noëlle Blessig Thousands lee the town of Sake, 26 km west of Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. People raising their hands to vote during the annual Landsgemeinde meeting in the square of the town of Appenzell, eastern Switzerland. THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013 people in the process of seeking asylum to Switzerland, including a full 28,631 who arrived in 2012 — the highest number in a decade. Only 11.7 per cent of asylum applications were meanwhile granted last year, when most asylum-seekers to the country came from Eritrea, Nigeria, Tunisia, Serbia and Afghanistan. Counting one asylum seeker for every 332 inhabitants, Switzerland ranks as the fourth most popular host country in Europe, trailing only Malta, Sweden and Luxembourg, and ranking far above the European average of one asylum seeker for every 625 inhabitants. Among the most controversial changes to the Swiss asylum law last year, was the decision to remove persecution due to military desertion as legal grounds for seeking asylum in Switzerland — a motive mainly used by Eritreans. The revision also removed the possibility, which had been unique in Europe, to apply for asylum in Switzerland. That move revision has been harshly criticised by the Swiss Bishops Conference, which stressed it would force people "to pay intermediaries and to embark upon high-risk trips."
THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013 Glimmer of hope for economy as Sharif takes over Pakistani voters hope that armed with majority, Sharif has a better shot at ixing the economy than his predecessors, reports Thomasz Janowski PAKISTAN'S economy is in its worst shape in nearly a decade and yet there is a sense of hope that the incoming government not only seems to know what is needed to ix it but, for once, may also have enough determination and clout to do it. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif swept back to power in last month's election, riding a wave of public anger at rival Pakistan People's Party's failure to tackle endemic corruption, power cuts and militant violence. Voters hope that armed with a solid parliamentary majority Sharif, who took ofice yesterday, has a better shot at ixing the economy than his predecessors, beset by internal strife and strained relations with the powerful military. Stakes are high not just for Sharif, 63, who won his third chance to lead the 180-million nation largely by making economic revival and ixing government inances the centrepiece of his policy platform. Economic turnaround is also essential to ensure greater political stability in the nuclear-armed nation, which is a key ally in the US ight against militancy. Economists say it will take years to fully revive a long-neglected economy starved of power and investment that has seen it slip behind its neighbours including India. "This is not a country which lives beyond its means. It doesn't have the means," says Werner Liepach, country director at Asian Development Bank. CUBANS barred from logging onto the Internet at home on Tuesday locked to newly opened public access spots to surf an uncensored World Wide Web — if they could afford the high prices. "I was able to get onto Facebook, download some music ... and I was able to chat with my family in Italy," said Luis Alonso, an 18-year-old student who paid to use communist Cuba's 118 newly expanded public access web ofices. Cuba, the Americas' only one-party Communist ruled nation for ive decades, has one of the lowest Internet use rates in all of Latin America: 2.6 million in 2011 out of a population of 11.1 million, oficial data show. Only doctors, journalists and certain other professionals are allowed to connect to the Web from home. Dissidents have said the government's goal has been to control access to information and that restricting Internet access is just another form of censorship in a country where all media outlets are state-controlled. The government long claimed it was unable to join undersea iber-optic cable networks due to the US embargo in effect since 1962, forcing it to connect to the web via satellite hookups. And the government in the past blamed limited bandwidth for restrictions on Web access, saying it is forced to "prioritise" it for "social use" purposes, with universities, companies and research centres given preference. But now that may be changing, at least for Cuba's inancially well off. Having secured an undersea iber-optic cable from Venezuela, Cuba opened the public access sites at ofices of the state phone company Etesca. The public can access the Web for $4.50 an hour, down from the previous $6 an hour, or check their email for an unchanged $1.50 an hour. With almost all Cubans — from doctors to street sweepers — earning around $20 a month, even the reduced rate will likely only appeal to those receiving money from abroad or earning hard currency tips in the tourism The government must start collecting taxes it is owed and overhaul power companies so they can produce enough electricity and stop draining public funds that have kept them aloat. Less than a million Pakistanis pay income taxes, iscal deicits run at close to 8 per cent of gross domestic product and a big chunk of government revenue is used up subsidising a power sector that covers just over half the country's needs. Pakistan's economy will expand 3.5 per cent in iscal 2012/13, the International Monetary Fund says, from a peak of 9 per cent in 2004. The rupee, meanwhile, has lost almost 40 per cent of its value against the dollar since the last election in 2008. Sagging exports and debt repayments have nearly halved oficial currency reserves over the past year to $6.5 billion in late May. That is just enough to cover ive weeks of imports. The ADB estimates that about $500 million lows out of Pakistan every month, meaning that it may not have enough to meet about $5 billion in loan repayments due this year and next. Economists say Pakistan has vast potential for growth with a location at the crossroads between the Gulf nations, Central Asia, China and India and a young and growing population. But Sharif is also inheriting a country barely in control of its northeastern areas, plagued by militant and sectarian violence. A US drone strike that killed a top militant com- An employee of Cuban telecommunications company helps a client at a cyber place in Havana. — AFP Cubans get public Internet spots Cuba has one of the lowest Internet use rates in all of Latin America with 2.6 million in 2011 and only doctors, journalists and certain other professionals were allowed to connect to the Internet at home, writes Francisco Jara industry. "As low as the (access fees) may seem, they are still high in comparison with salaries we earn," Tania Molina, a doctor, said. "So we'll just continue as before." But a few of the more fortunate gave it a go with the World Wide Web. "The hardest thing for me was to upload photos on Facebook; I guess the size of the iles was too large," Alonso said. He was among a group of people logging on to check out Twitter, Facebook and other social media one of the new access points in Havana's landmark Focsa Building. Yoeldis Rodriguez, 34 and an employee at the government's Cuban Institute of Radio and TV, said the price tag meant she would just check her email, or use the Cuban-media only intranet. "I know the government said it needs to recoup on its investment... but the price is astronomical," she said. "For the average Cuban, it just cannot be paid, especially international access." "It is a step forward in the sense that before, you did not even have this," she said, adding: "How big of a step forward may be debatable." Some people said they felt intimidated because they had to show their government ID cards to get their web suring passes. Yet once they were online, they were surfing censorship-free, even to sites virulently opposed to Cuba's government, it is observed. There was a lot of bottled-up demand for Internet access in many of Cuba's provinces. In Holguin, in the east, a line of 15 people snaked outside one of the new web-access spots, one new web surfer said. At one spot in Cienfuegos, a line of 20 people backed up waiting to log on, an employee said. Just last week a senior oficial had denied that public access to the Internet was being limited in Cuba for political reasons, insisting it was due to "technological and inancial" considerations. mander last week further complicates Sharif's efforts to hold peace talks with the militants. Yet lenders, economists and ordinary Pakistanis are willing to give the new administration the beneit of the doubt. "The economy was just not on the previous government's radar," said Ashfaque Khan, dean of NUST Business School in Islamabad. "But the new government appears very serious about it." ADB's Liepach agrees. "If we are talking about whether there is a momentum for reform, I do think there is," he says. Lenders, rating agencies and commentators also say that Sharif's economic policy ticks a lot of the right boxes. There is a promise to revive growth by boosting investment funded by improved tax revenues and subsidy cuts. There is a plan to turn around loss-making state-owned irms including Pakistan International Airlines, Pakistan Steel Mills and the National Shipping Corporation. There is also a plan to diversify Pakistan's energy mix to help end 20-hour power cuts and a promise to bolster business ties with India. Sharif's team plans to make an emergency cash injection of $5 billion to break a chain of payment arrears that has paralysed the power sector. The money would be raised through the sale of treasury bills. The administration is also considering taxing heavy electricity users, plugging tax loopholes, cutting the number of ministries and slashing non-development budget. A real estate boom By Mariano Andrade ANALYSIS WHILE many people scrimp and save to buy their irst modest home and others rent for life, New York is seeing a boom in housing construction for the fabulously rich. Buyers are snapping up high-rise luxury condos before they are even completed, with money gushing in from places like South America, the Middle East, China and Russia, as well as from New York. The global economic and inancial crisis may still linger in many parts of the world, but the Big Apple remains a ferociously bull market for developers. "The luxury market in New York City has rebounded to even higher prices than the last peak market. The stability of the New York market is attractive to many purchasers," said Jeff Dvorett, project manager of One57, a condo going up in mid-town Manhattan. Construction started in 2011 and 70 per cent of the homes in the building have been sold. When they have all gone, sales are expected to surpass $2 billion, Dvorett said. One57 is 90 stories high and was designed by the award winning French architect Christian de Portzamparc. Two penthouses there have gone for between $90 million and $100 million, a record for a single dwelling in Manhattan. Similar dizzying igures come from a building called 56 Leonard in the Tribeca district of lower Manhattan. Seventy-ive per cent of its 145 condos sold in three months, and once the building is sold out revenue will exceed $1 billion, said Elizabeth Unger, sales director at Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, the leading New York luxury real estate developer. "The success and velocity of sales at 56 Leonard is record breaking. Within two months, 50 per cent of its residences were sold with sales totaling over $600 million. Now, after three months on the market, we are 75 per cent sold," she said. Unger attributed the luxury housing boom to scant supply. "The New York market is in a condition of undersupply, particularly for unique and superior new product," she said. Furthermore, under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who took ofice in 2002, New York has experienced unprecedented investment and made major strides in infrastructure and commerce, she added. Ultra luxury condos seem to be popping up everywhere. According to the site CityRealty.com, the number of Manhattan condos with apartments costing more than $15 million has gone from 33 in 2009 to 49 this year. On 18th Street in the Chelsea district, an ediice built by architect Ralph Walker in 1926 to house a telephone call centre has been transformed a 47unit condo, with the most expensive property due to go on sale soon for $55 million. Another two-bedroom apartment at Walker Tower with 300 square meters of loor space and a balcony with a view of the Empire State building was recently purchased for $14 million. Why so expensive? "These prospective buyers are looking for the highest quality; gracious living spaces, luxurious hotel services from the Park Hyatt, and unprecedented views of Central Park and the NYC skyline," Dvorett, Vice-President of Extell Development Company, said in allusion to One57. Unger said she is dealing with "informed and experienced buyers who recognise quality, attention to detail and exceptional construction. She said her buyers also appreciate "modern design and innovative architecture." In the case of 56 Leonard, which has 60 stories, part of the appeal lies in collaboration between Indian-British sculptor Anish Kapoor and the Swiss architectural irm Herzog & de Meuron. A view of the private terrace in a model unit during a press tour of luxury condominiums at the Walker Tower in New York. — AFP Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these pages are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the opinion of the Observer. 9
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