The president of the Tulum Hotel Association (AHT), David Ortiz Mena, assured that the “grand opening” of the director of the National Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur), Rogelio Jiménez Pons, is relevant to hear the possible effects that it will generate to entrepreneurs, workers and the environment the current line of the Mayan Train in the area it represents (within section 5).
Among the concerns raised in a working meeting was the request for the purchase of land from hoteliers made by the Ministry of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development (Sedatu) to facilitate the construction of the railway project, which is raised passing through the center of the highway federal 307. Without prior context, the agency sent letters requesting appointments to make their offers.
After last Tuesday’s meeting with the official, together with Toni Cháves, president of the Riviera Maya Hotel Association (AHRM) and other businessmen, it was agreed to set up a work table and the following week the first meeting will be held at the that will be attended by representatives of other agencies and tourism entrepreneurs.
“We went to the meeting with Fonatur, which we requested, to expose the concerns and concerns of the hotel sector and its workers regarding the irruptions generated by the Mayan Train project, the possible detriment to our tourist competitiveness and its effect on employment”, explained.
In response, Ortiz Mena said that the head of Fonatur acknowledged that the request to purchase Sedatu was due to a lack of coordination and that the right solution will be found for everyone. The proposal of the hotel sector is that the train does not go through the center of the road but through the side where the properties are not (in the area of the electrical towers), as originally proposed. In this area, even poles of economic development can be generated. The southern section 5 of the Maya Train (Playa del Carmen-Tulum) was assigned to the consortium made up of México Proyectos y Desarrollos and México Compañía Constructora (subsidiaries of Grupo México’s infrastructure area) and the Spanish Acciona Construcción and its subsidiary Acciona Infraestructura México.
What complications are you already seeing for the first jobs in the area?
The traffic that is being generated affects not only tourists but also hotel workers. Let’s take into account that in the case of Tulum, there is a lack of social housing. Many workers come from Cancun and for an eight-hour workday they must add three hours for their transfers. We see that there is a clear lack of information about the project, we wanted to know the stages of the project to coordinate with our collaborators and visitors to reduce the impact.
Is the discomfort still over the letters sent by the Sedatu to buy land?
There is confusion. They asked 17 meters inside some hotels, but there are long premises and the effects are greater. Another complicated situation is that in many projects land was acquired to have sufficient density to establish a certain number of rooms and comply with the rules, when cutting a section there would be environmental impact consequences. In addition, the hotels are made with financing and have a mortgage guarantee.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx