Cancun, QR. A federal court granted a second provisional suspension against the works of Section 5 of the Mayan Train.
This is indirect protection 1003/2022 promoted by three inhabitants of the municipality of Solidaridad, in the face of what they consider a latent risk of collapse of the aquifer, underground rivers, cenotes and caverns over which the Mayan Train will travel.
In this new trial, which involves the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (Fonatur), evidence was presented that will be used during the hearings scheduled for May 13 and 19.
It also starts from the presumption of violations of the right to a healthy environment, as there is no evidence that the environmental impact authorizations were processed for this section that goes from Cancun to Tulum. Although the trial began in Cancún, it will be in a federal court in Mérida, Yucatán.
This is the second provisional suspension, after a first granted to a group of speleologists on April 18, which ordered a halt to the execution of works related to the construction, removal or destruction of the biodiversity of the land or any other activity that implies its material execution in Tranche 5.
The First District Court, based in Yucatan, recognized through its ruling that the speleologists have a legitimate interest in the issue and that the measure does not contravene public interest and order, in addition to recognizing that the project lacks a Manifestation of Environmental Impact, according to the statement, signed by the civil association Defending the Right to a Healthy Environment.
The works must remain stopped until the date of the incidental hearing of the process, which was set for May 13; Until then, it will be decided whether or not the definitive suspension of Section 5 proceeds while the underlying case is resolved. Although the federal government has already challenged this judicial resolution.
More protections
In addition, GreenPeace announced through a statement that they filed an injunction together with the Center for Biological Biodiversity, which challenges the fact that the government did not carry out the corresponding environmental impact assessment before starting the works. of Section 5.
Greenpeace refers to the fact that on November 22, 2021, a presidential decree was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation that exempts the permit requirements for several of the government’s priority infrastructure projects by classifying them as national security, including the Mayan Train.
“The amparo lawsuit filed by Greenpeace Mexico and the Center for Biological Diversity before the Second District Court of Quintana Roo questions the provisional authorization issued by the General Directorate of Environmental Impact and Risk of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources”; He also questions the change of initial plans for the train route so that it now goes through underwater caves and jungle.
The amparo refers to the presumed “violation of the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters, also known as the Escazú Agreement”, as they claim that the federal government started the works, denying access environmental information and public participation in environmental decision-making.