Construction at Halawa prison stirs up rats

Recent construction work at Halawa Correctional Facility has stirred up the rat population at the state’s largest prison, but Department of Public Safety Director Nolan Espinda says the department has contracted with exterminators who have the situation under control.

State Sen. Will Espero on Wednesday forwarded to Espinda a complaint from an inmate about the rat problem at Halawa, which was built in 1987. Espero, (D-Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point), withheld the identity of the inmate, but the author of the complaint alleged there were “rat feces in every chow hall.”

“The feces is found on tables, below the spout of water pitchers, as if the rats were trying to get at the water,” according to the complaint. “The kitchen is also over run by rats as evidenced by feces.”

The complaint also alleged there were problems with meal utensils that were not properly cleaned, and “some men are experiencing strange illnesses and nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and skin eruptions.”

“The place is filthy, it needs the Health Department to make a surprise visit ASAP,” the inmate wrote.

Espinda acknowledged the prison is overhauling its locking system and installing video cameras throughout the facility, and that stirred up more rat activity than normal in the area of the prison that includes the food service area and the dining halls.

“There’s a lot of construction going on and boring of existing walls, expansion of conduits going up through the system, and we’ve experienced an increase in vermin issue,” Espinda said.

However, he said it is “absolutely not” true that there have been illnesses caused by contamination from rats. He also said he has not received reports of problems with rat droppings.

“We haven’t had any contamination of food stocks or utensils or anything of that nature,” he said. He said the facility passed inspection by state Department of Health on Sept. 25, and said prison officials welcome a follow-up inspection if Health Department officials decide to do one.

The state has a standing contract with a pest control company that uses extensive trapping to catch rats. The contractor does not use poison, Espinda said.

There were 638 inmates housed at Halawa at the end of last month, according to prison records.