(3 minutes read)
· Prisoners in Seychelles are being allowed to take part in a project to harvest cinnamon bark, which is a part of the drive to accelerate export of the condiment from the country.
· An initiative of the Seychelles Prison Services under its ‘Phoenix Project’ supported by Seychelles’ longest exporters of cinnamon bark Chaka Brothers (Pty) Ltd, the program is aimed at making cinnamon exports another major head for ensuring more inflows of export proceeds
· This assumes importance at a time when the foreign exchange accruals from tourism sector has come to a naught because of the Covid-19 pandemic
Prisoners in Seychelles are being allowed to take part in a project to harvest cinnamon bark, which is a part of the drive to accelerate export of the condiment from the country. An initiative of the Seychelles Prison Services under its ‘Phoenix Project’ supported by Seychelles’ longest exporters of cinnamon bark Chaka Brothers (Pty) Ltd, the program is aimed at making cinnamon exports another major goal for ensuring more inflows of export proceeds. This assumes importance at a time when the foreign exchange accruals from the tourism sector has come to a naught because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last week an agreement was signed between Raymond St. Ange, Superintendent of Prisons, and Chaka Brothers (Pty) Ltd. For peeling bark. Low-risk prisoners will be engaged to harvest cinnamon bark and then dry them. Later, the prison authority will sell the dry bark to Chaka Brothers, which has a huge export market.
The discussions with Chaka Brothers have been going on for many months and now only the deal has been signed. The project is a part of the rehabilitation project of the prisoners, which gives them opportunities to inmates to earn an allowance while learning and applying new skills.
The revenues accrued from the sale s of the cinnamon bark are divided into three. A third goes into the prison accounts. Two-thirds goes for the prisoner but only one third can be used by the detainee while rest is kept for them to be used after the release.
