The “Maya Train” mega-construction site suspended indefinitely
Mexican justice has suspended the pharaonic works of the “Maya Train”, in a tourist area of Mexico, to protect the environment.
A Yucatan judge pronounced the “definitive suspension” of work on this stretch of a distance of 60 km.
AFP
Mexican justice confirmed on Monday the suspension of work on the “Maya Train”, a pharaonic public project worth 10 billion dollars (9.5 billion francs), between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, a victory for environmental defenders in this hyper-touristy area.
A judge in Yucatan has pronounced the “permanent suspension” of work on this stretch of a distance of 60 km – out of the 1,500 in total – on the Caribbean coast south of Cancún, an area which attracts tens of thousands of Americans and Europeans.
«Danger imminent»
The judge ruled on an appeal filed by a group of divers and speleologists who defend the special environment of the Yucatan peninsula: forests, caves and “cenotes”, underground freshwater wells of great archaeological value.
The judge considered that the Mexican authorities did not respect the environmental impact assessment procedures before the works, according to a press release from the association for the defense “to a healthy environment”. Relying on the “precautionary principle”, the justice considered that there was “an imminent danger” that the execution of the work would cause “irreversible damage”, adds the collective.
The Mexican authorities can appeal this decision through the Ministry of the Environment and the National Fund for the Development of Tourism (Fonatur). Justice had already announced the temporary suspension of work on April 19. At the origin of the project, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador described his opponents as “pseudo defenders of the environment” in the pay of the United States or its opponents.
“Forgers”
“Environmental defenders who are against the Maya train are counterfeiters, they are not authentic”, he declared at the end of April before visiting a few days later the Alstom-Bombardier factory located in Mexico which, according to him, will build “42 trains with 210 wagons for the Maya train”. The Head of State believes that his tourist train project will allow the development of the Yucatan Peninsula.
Almost half of the population lives in poverty in the hinterland of the state of Quintana Roo, behind the shining showcases of international tourism (Cancún, Playa del Carmen, Tulum). Another caver and activist, Otto Von Bertrab, suggests that the train follow its original route along the Tulum-Playa del Carmen route. Otherwise “destruction will be the legacy of this president”.
Published: 30.05.2022, 23:53
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