An infestation of bedbugs has become so rampant at the Oahu Community Correctional Center that officials announced a plan Thursday to shut down a housing module for fumigation and temporarily relocate more than 100 inmates.

The tenting of Module 20, costing about $12,000, is tentatively scheduled to take place Thursday through May 17.

"A great number (of inmates) have been bitten, and we need to address this problem," said Max Otani, a deputy public safety director for the Corrections Division. "The department has decided to take a more aggressive stance. … This is not a simple operation. … It will take a couple of days for the chemicals to work."

Otani said tenting alone isn’t enough and that correctional officials are making every effort to keep the bugs from coming back.

He said because the prisoners in Module 20 are on work furlough and moving in and out of the prison facility, preventing another infestation will require "enhanced" sanitation measures, including making sure inmates’ bodies and clothing are clean when returning to the facility.

Otani said that once Module 20 is fumigated and inmates are returned, corrections officials will also be limiting personal belongings of inmates and making sure the surroundings are clean.

"We will continue to doing spot treatment if bedbugs flare up," he said. "We’re also disposing of some of the furnishings that may harbor the bedbugs."

Otani said the infestation was hard to control in Module 20 because it was designed as a dormitory-type setting with bunk beds and scores of inmates living side by side in two wings of the facility.

Department spokeswoman Toni Schwartz said corrections officials have taken a number of steps in an attempt to eradicate the bedbugs, including the use of pesticide sprays and replacing mattresses and bedding.

Otani said the problem was brought to the department’s attention a couple of months ago, but he thinks the problem may have gotten worse in the last few months. He said officials have been unable to pinpoint the source of the bedbugs.