Rio Grande do Sul to build prison through barter contract

The government of Rio Grande do Sul state signed a contract of exchange with a local conglomerate to build a prison in Porto Alegre.

In the barter, the state government will receive plot of land totaling 5,100m2 from Grupo Zaffari, which in turn will build the facility valued at 28mn reais (US$8.66mn) on that same property. Works are expected to last eight months.

Overcapacity at Brazil's prison system is blamed for a spate of violence inside the penitentiaries. The country ended 2014 with 607,731 prisoners for an occupancy rate of 161%, according to the most recent data available.

Brazil has the most prisoners in Latin America and the fourth highest number in the world, behind the US, China and Russia.