Cancun, QRoo.- Environmental organizations from Quintana Roo managed to obtain the provisional suspension of the landing of the stone from Cuba for the elaboration of ballast that is currently being carried out in Puerto Morelos and that will be used on the Mayan Train tracks.
This was announced by the organizations themselves, among which are Sustainable Puerto Morelos, United Voices of Puerto Morelos, latitude 21, Mayab Gem Group and the Association for the Ecosocial Development of Women.
The appeal, which is filed before the First District Court based in Mérida, Yucatán, argues that environmental permits were not processed for the development of this activity, and that no environmental impact authorization has been processed for the alternative road that has already been announced by the government of Quintana Roo through which the stone brought from Cuba will be moved through dump trucks, which they assure will be built on the mangroves of Puerto Morelos.
“The effects of the suspension are that the navigation and anchoring of the vessel called Melody, on the coral community of the reef located in the protected natural area of the Mexican Caribbean Biosphere Reserve (RBCM), adjacent to the Puerto Morelos Reef National Park, is paralyzed. (PNAPM), and so that mangrove felling, clearing and filling work is not carried out, nor is the construction of the road next to José María Morelos avenue, which connects federal highway 307 with the coastal zone of the municipality of Puerto Morelos, for the transportation and operations of the trucks that will be transporting stone material”, reads the communication issued by the organizations that promoted the amparo.
However, it does not stop…
Hours later, the governor of Quintana Roo, Mara Lezama, came out to ensure that the work does not stopwhich was confirmed by Armando Lara Denigris, State Secretary for Territorial Development, Sustainable Urban, who explained that they are not suspended because they have not been notified of any protection granted by the judiciary.
Regardless of the governor’s statements, the constitutional hearing will be held on Friday, April 21, in which the first district court will define whether to grant the final suspension or annul the measure while the trial continues its legal course.
Antecedent
On November 4, 2022, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed that for logistical reasons it was being analyzed to bring the ballast for the Mayan Train from Cuba and Belize.
“I am going to comment something so that our adversaries question us. It is very probable that for this section we will bring ballast (he said pointing to Cuba), which there is, by maritime transport.
By December of that same year, the arrival of the stone material in Puerto Morelos, located 20 minutes from Cancun, was confirmed.
On March 19 of this year, in a letter addressed to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the foundation Jean Michael Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society warned about the potential damage to the second largest barrier reef in the world off the coast of Quintana Roo due to the unloading of ballast for the Mayan Train on the beaches of Puerto Morelos.
“The danger to the environment continues, since his administration will import 200,000 tons of basalt per month from Cuba, which will arrive in Puerto Morelos. We have been notified that the first freighter, the Melody, has arrived in Puerto Morelos”, reads the text signed by the son of the famous underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau.
The letter warns that Puerto Morelos does not have sufficient depth for the disembarkation of large volumes of cargo, so the transfer of the stone to the mainland will be carried out with barges.
“Unfortunately, with such a large cargo volume over 10 months, the chances of accidents are numerous, so the danger to Puerto Morelos’s beautiful coral reefs is enormous,” the letter reads.
They also alert about the lack of a road that supports cargo traffic to move ballast, which will imply “the very possible destruction of mangroves and their habitat to make way for cargo transportation,” the letter adds.
“We hope that reason prevails and that you do not act without due diligence and give the appropriate instructions to your Secretary of the Environment,” the letter concludes.
In addition to this document, professional divers have submerged in the area where the Cuban ship Melody is anchored to document how the boat’s anchor has already affected the barrier reef.
