A mouse at Wellington Correctional Centre.Credit:Corrections NSW
Corrective Services NSW Commissioner Peter Severin said up to 200 staff and 420 inmates will have to be transferred to other prisons by the end of the month in order to fix the damage.
“The staff at Wellington have done an incredibly good job in managing the effects of the mice plague,but we need to take this step now to ensure the site is thoroughly cleaned and infrastructure is repaired,” he said.
The Commissioner said moving the prisoners out was the quickest way to deal with the effects of the mouse plague,which has damaged internal wiring and ceiling panels at the facility.
Most staff members will be re-deployed to other correctional centres in the region,while a skeleton crew remains at Wellington to oversee and contribute to remediation work.
Prisoners at a NSW facility have been evacuated after mice chewed through wiring and ceiling panels.Credit:Corrective Services NSW
Inmates will be transferred to a number of sites including Macquarie Correctional Centre,where normal operations continue. Some of those inmates will return to Wellington during the day to work.
Assistant Commissioner for custodial corrections Kevin Corcoran said the remediation would also investigate ways to protect the centre from future mice plagues.