Indigenous people from Campeche keep protesting against Maya Train

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“The indefinite suspension of section 2 of the Mayan Train issued by the First District Court of the State, and which includes the projected route from Escárcega to Calkiní, allow the persons who filed the injunction, to hold a judicial process without carrying out works that could generate irreparable damage, which constitutes a benefit for society in general, as long as the possibility to reach agreements can be reached that do not imply the deterioration of the environment and the quality of life of the inhabitants of the impacted areas”, explained the Operational Technical Director of the Center Mexican of Environmental Law (CEMDA), Xavier Martínez Esponda.

Accompanied by Genomelín López Velázquez, representative of the Mayan communities of Calakmul, Lourdes Ganzo Rivera, representative of the “Tres Barrios” Collective, and Aurora Beltrán, representative of the Maya community in Quintana Roo, Martínez Esponda specified that this indefinite suspension is related to the injunction filed last July against of the Maya Train Project and represents a great advance in the struggle of the indigenous, farming and coastal communities of the states of Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo, however, it does not represent the definitive suspension of the project as such.

Since July of this year, a lawsuit has been filed with which it is intended, among other points, to fully respect the right to the environment enshrined in article 4 of the Constitution, which said, has been violated by acts and omissions by the authorities in charge of this project. It is worth mentioning that this protection was only admitted last week by the First District Court in Campeche and in this same period the definitive suspension was ordered, ordering the authorities to refrain from carrying out new works.

“The Mayan Train project has been unduly divided, as the Law requires an environmental impact assessment, which is an instrument by which the right to a healthy environment is guaranteed and whose purpose is to be able to foresee all the impacts that may be generated. In order to make the best decisions for the environment, unfortunately, this did not happen, the Ministry of the Environment did not have the opportunity to assess this as a whole, and hence the decisions that have been made and that as projected will fragment the ecosystems that today exist in the Yucatan Peninsula, the biological corridors and natural protected areas being the most affected ”.

The authorities responsible for the work that must abide by the suspension granted by the judicial authority are the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (Fonatur), the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), the Presidency of the Republic, the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI), the Ministry of Communications and Transportation (SCT), as well as Fonatur Tren Maya (TM).

Regarding the recent Authorization of the Environmental Impact Manifestation of Phase 1 of the Mayan Train, granted by Semarnat to Fonatur TM, neither works for said phase may be carried out, since new works are included in section 2 of Escárcega to Calkiní.

Escárcega to Calkiní road

“We respectfully call on the Judiciary to maintain and execute the definitive suspension, because only in this way is respect for our human rights guaranteed. Likewise, we respectfully request the judicial authority to act with greater diligence in this case, since many procedural delays are occurring in the different defense processes that have been filed in the Yucatan Peninsula. There is a general delay in the admission of lawsuits between 4 and 6 months, insufficient suspensions, contempt for suspensions and lack of sanction to the responsible authorities.

At risk, resources and quality of life in Calakmul

For his part, the representative of the Calakmul communities expressed his concern about the environmental impact and the exponential growth of the population that this project would bring to his area, as he assures that there are still many Mayan communities where drinking water does not reach and the Agricultural activity is temporary, so resources and their quality could be put at risk and further limit the quality of life of its inhabitants.

Calakmul, Campeche

“Our rights were violated by omitting the environmental impact assessment in the entire project and allowing true access to information and citizen participation, that is the disagreement that we have in Calakmul because here we do not have drinking water, what we have is rain and they bring it from other states. We have approximately 40 thousand tourist visits per year, and with this project, the number of inhabitants we have will double first and the resources are not enough. Until now tourism is sustainable but its exposure could cause its deterioration as happened in other areas of Cancun, Tulum and Playa del Carmen ”.

In the case of the “Tres Barrios” collective that represents the Camino Real, La Ermita and Barrio de Santa Lucía neighborhoods in the capital city, the concern is no different, but it does involve the removal of the railways given the danger it represents for the inhabitants of the area, making it clear that this request is years ago before the development of this project was considered, as they claim they have to verify that the railways invaded their habitat and not the other way around as the authority has raised federal.

“As a group we are affected by the Mayan Train as it passes through the city, dividing it and at the same time affecting around 400 families in the area of ​​our heritage since the vibration of the railway deteriorates our properties but also puts us at risk due to the vibration. of the hills around us, which will increase if the development project takes place ”, he lamented.

Source: Novedades de Campeche

Campeche Post