Visitors and Neighbors Get Whiff of Chorrera Prison Sewage

La Chorrera prison’s sewage system collapsed earlier this week, its wastewater runoff affecting prison visitors and nearby residents.

Most of the sewage runs into the area where inmate relatives wait in line to deliver food and medicine to prisoners.  Neighbors were forced into action and opened a trench to divert the course of wastewater flowing towards their homes.

Some expressed concerned about the harmful effects that standing so close to excrement could have on their health.

This is the second headline-making La Chorrera prison sewage blockage in recent years.  In May 2007, two adjacent homes were flooded with prison excrement, requiring clean-up assistant from the fire department.

The Ministry of Government is responsible for the maintenance of the prison.  Officials did not respond to La Prensa’s request for information.