Environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have criticized Mexican authorities for resuming construction of a section of the Tren Maya tourist train, despite a court order suspending it.
On Thursday, the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources held an informative meeting on the environmental impact study of the section that connects the tourist areas of Playa del Carmen and Tulum.
The coordinator of Environmental Management of the National Institute of Ecology (INECOL) of Mexico, Alexandro Medina, assured that the The project will not generate irreversible impacts and respects the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection in force in the country.
A statement criticized by several environmental defense organizations present at the meeting, in the resort of Cancun, on the Mayan Train, an emblematic project of President Andrés López Obrador.
Why did the work begin without resolution or change of land use?” asked Araceli Domínguez, from the Mayab Ecologist Group, pointing out that the land where the tourist train will pass is still designated as forest.
An Inecol researcher, Rafael Villegas Patraca, limited himself to saying that when the institute prepared the environmental impact study, “the work had not yet started”having refused five times to answer questions about the deforestation that is already underway.
The construction of the section of the Mayan Train was delayed due to changes in the route and the discovery of archaeological remains, underground freshwater wells and underwater rivers.
At the end of May, a judge suspended the project of 1,500 kilometers after several appeals from NGOs, which accused the connection of violating environmental regulations. The government appealed against the suspension.
Work resumed on July 13, after the government classified large public infrastructure projects as “national security” issues in November.
Rafael Villegas Patraca stressed that the controversy surrounding the court order was not subject to public consultation and also defended that the Mayan Train will not affect the reefs of the Gulf of Mexico.
The award of the first batch of this railway infrastructure was awarded to the Portuguese conglomerate Mota-Engil, in partnership with China Communications Construction, in a contract valued at around 636 million euros, according to a statement sent to the Securities Market Commission (CMVM). in April 2020.
“Mota-Engil SGPS, SA informs about the award to Mota-Engil México, in partnership, led by Mota-Engil with 58%, and China Communications Construction Company, of a contract for the construction of the first section of the new railway infrastructure”, reads the note.
Source: Observadora
