"Over 2,700 hectares of land, an 800-meter elevation difference, eight branches, orchards, olive groves, beehives, sheepfolds, stables, a stable, workshops, a dairy, a cellar, 188 inmates, enormous potential, most of it untapped, and a substantial state of abandonment that has persisted for decades."
This is the situation that arose during an inspection of the Mamone penal colony by the delegation of the Uil Fp penitentiary police composed of the general secretary Gennarino De Fazio , the regional secretary Michele Cireddu and the territorial managers of Nuoro, Gian Luigi Pessei and Mario Casula .
"The Mamone prison, originally an agricultural colony, still retains its unique purpose, but it must clearly pay the price of shortsighted policies that have led to the devaluation of much of its potential over the years," says Gennarino De Fazio , head of the Uil Fp penitentiary police. "So much so that the internal 'village', once home to schools, a post office, a Carabinieri barracks, and much more, is now reduced to ruins, while three of the eight branches are disused, and those that are active or under renovation are in serious condition."
Even regarding the housing issue: "Just think of the rooms (cells) for inmates, which can accommodate up to 14 beds with a single bathroom . But the situation is certainly no better for the staff, who are understaffed—103 officers assigned, including those from the Mounted Service, when at least 180 are needed—forced to move frequently between the various branches, up to 14 kilometers away from the headquarters. The buildings housing the officers also have numerous flaws and, at first glance, appear to be of questionable health and safety."
According to De Fazio, "when we discuss, especially at conferences or in front of cameras, the re-educational purpose of punishment, work for prisoners, the reduction of recidivism, the meaning and humanity of detention, rather than philosophical abstractions we should refer to these concrete realities which should be made a virtuous model and which remain at the very least underused and for long periods, as mentioned, abandoned."
