Inmates complain about aircraft noise, and pests, at prison

Ullersmo PrisonUllersmo Prison. Photo: Norway Today Media

Prisoners at Ullersmo Prison sent a complaint to the Norwegian Board of Health and Safety about the conditions in the institution, indicating construction noise, aircraft noise and rodent pests. The complaints weren’t accepted.

 

Prisoners at Kløfta in Akershus started a signature campaign earlier this year because they believe they are exposed to harmful noise every day. 13 inmates signed the complaint, which they sent to the Norwegian Board of Health on the 30th of August, reported Romerike Blad newspaper.

‘Due to the trains, the road, Gardermoen airport, and construction work involved in renewal of the prison, it is completely untenable to live at this prison,’ wrote the prisoners in the letter that the newspaper has received.

The Health Board forwarded the case to the County Governor of Oslo and Akershus, who in turn forwarded it to the municipality of Ullensaker, at the Environmental Protection Agency in Upper Romerike. This is a regional professional authority which cooperates with the municipal councillor in each municipality in the district.

When the Environmental Protection Agency were at the prison in October, it was found that construction activity in the prison leads to some noise, but it was established that the complainants had not documented health damage in connection with construction activities in the prison.

The prison believes there had been no noisy activity while the inmates were locked in the cells, and that noise from airplanes, trains and roads is not greater in the prison than in the town of Kløfta in general. The complaint was therefore not upheld.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today