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 By Kathy Loretta, Editor, The Miami Herald Cancun
Edition.
Puerto Morelos fights back with scientific facts.
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."
During Sunday's meeting with the community, hydrobiologists, specialists in sustainable development, scientists, marine biologists, architects, world reknown 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 reknown 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 demograhpic 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 investigation 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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