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Puerto Morelos fights back with scientific facts
By KATHY LORETTA
La Voz de Mexico
For the second time in a week, the community of Puerto Morelos
has rejected the Urban Development Plan proposed by City Hall in Cancun. The
original plan presented last week, called for the building of 60,000 homes
housing 240,000 people. However, after the community rejected that plan, city
officials modified the development plan to 43,000 homes for 174,000 people.
This urban development is slated for the western side of the highway, known as
the "colonia," where a large portion of the population of Puerto Morelos live.
During Sunday's meeting with the community, hydrobiologists, specialists in
sustainable development, scientists, marine biologists, architects,
world-renowned coral reef experts, business people, tour operators and children
spoke about the lack of basic infrastructure that the town has at present.
Bringing in such a large development without proper planning could kill the
coral reef, which is one of Puerto Morelos' main tourist attractions.
Some of the arguments used against the development plan were:
- Projected growth in areas of high flooding
- An increase in the population of a town that already lacks basic services
- Infrastructure that was promised 10 years ago has never materialized
- The proposed population growth would put great pressure on natural resources,
a demand for a magnitude of water, which currently does not reach the 10,000
people living in Puerto Morelos - The Plan violates the limits of the
Environmental Ordinance
- The project does not reflect the results of workshops carried out in the past
with the Municipal Planning Institute
- The blueprints on the internet used for public consultation are not legible
- The plan violates international accords on the protection of coral reefs,
mangroves, the beach and low jungle
The supply of water to the community was one of the main
topics raised during the meeting. The Urban Development Plan never mentioned how
water would reach all of the proposed houses.
One of those who spoke during the meeting was world-renowned specialist on coral
reefs, Eric Jordan. He said that increasing the population of Puerto Morelos 20
times would "put this town into social and environmental chaos due to the over
saturation of its capacity." The community repeatedly asked city officials for a
two-month period to study the proposed development plan. However Heyden Cebada,
director of Urban Development in Cancun, refused to answer.
Residents also asked that two members of the community be named as
representatives on the Municipal Committee of Housing and Urban Development, an
academic and a citizen. That petition was also ignored. Many mentioned that the
plan is on the "fast track" to be approved by the city council within the next
two weeks. They argue that this is not an Urban Development Plan but rather a
Real Estate Business Plan, which would generate a demographic explosion without
any possible sustainability.
After nearly four hours of discussion and presentation, Cancun representatives
left the podium and the community was again left without any concrete answers.
But the majority has not given up. The scientists, investigators, architects,
environmentalists and the residents in general have their facts and figures, and
will continue investigating the effects of such a large development in the area
- something clearly lacking from the government's proposed Urban Development
Plan.
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