The fight heats up over Royal Caribbean’s plans for an exclusive water park in Mahahual, Quintana Roo

Royal Caribbean is aiming precocious successful Mahahual, Quintana Roo. The cruise institution hopes to physique an exclusive, beach-front h2o parkland that could invited millions of cruise passengers a twelvemonth — but section absorption threatens to halt the project. Activists accidental the parkland volition worsen infrastructure woes successful the 2,600-person town, wherever an overloaded sewage strategy regularly leaks into adjacent mangroves and reefs.

Perfect Day Mexico involves the operation of a 80-hectare h2o parkland crossed from the Mahahual cruise vessel pier successful confederate Quintana Roo. The archetypal program calls for an operational capableness of up to 21,000 cruise vessel tourists per day, successful summation to 2,500 employees for the park’s operation.

Activists, however, warned that Mahahual has superior drainage and sewage absorption problems, and they interest that a mega-park would overload the town’s already saturated infrastructure.

The complaints prompted the non-profit Defending the Right to a Healthy Environment (DMAS) to record an amparo lawsuit (a ineligible enactment oregon writ successful Mexico utilized to support individuals from violations of their quality rights) against the Perfect Day Project. 

In the lawsuit, DMAS challenges caller onshore usage modifications to the municipal Urban Development Program (PDU), including the removal of roads and different restrictions to let the operation of the h2o parkland planned by Royal Caribbean successful Mahahual.

Antonella Vázquez Cavedón, caput of DMAS, told paper El Economista that the modifications to the PDU are a wide usurpation of the Human Settlements Law.

She explained that fixed the project’s value for the full community, authorities were obliged to transportation retired a nationalist consultation process to guarantee that citizens recognize the project’s scope and consequences to the municipality maturation of Mahahual.

According to Vázquez, Royal Caribbean’s interests prevailed implicit the interests of the community.

“The politician presented the ruling to the metropolis assembly and successful conscionable a fewer days, they granted [Royal Caribbean] each request,” she said.

Currently, an incomplete h2o attraction works leaks earthy sewage into Mahahual’s coastal mangrove wood and the adjacent reef, Vázquez said.

Royal Caribbean has promised to cleanable up the country contaminated by the sewage leaks, but activists accidental the project’s cognition volition further strain the community’s already mediocre infrastructure and drainage system.

The institution has besides recognized the beingness of endangered taxon similar the ocelot, margay and achromatic turtle. According to the Environmental Impact Statement (MIA), mitigation measures volition beryllium undertaken to “reduce accent and guarantee the carnal integrity of the individuals.”

With reports from El Economista