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SOME FACTS TO THINK ABOUT BEFORE GOING TO CANCUN AND THE RIVIERA MAYA
By Leticia Rubello
It seems a waste of money to spend millions to promote tourism without first cleaning the back yard in the benefit of all

1. Pollution
Residual waste and garbage dump continues to drain into the Nichupte Lagoon regardless the efforts of many committed citizens who believed in the preservation of natural resources for
future generations and who wanted to implement zoning in the lagoons and avoid clandestine discharges to mitigate the natural process of eutrophication since 1986. (Gema A.C.,pioneer environmental group founded in the 80`s, in Cancun who worked with UNAM, Centre for Limnology, National University of Mexico, Amigos de Sian Kaan, Cancun Limpio, Biosintesis, and others.) Noticaribe and Novedades de Quintana Roo December 2007.
2. Insecurity
The corrupt system of justice in the country makes it almost impossible for the laws to be implemented. Crime in Cancun has greatly increased in the last couple of years and safety has been threatened even in the hotel area of Cancun. Also take note that the highway from the airport to the Riviera Maya is a killer so if you go, never take transportation at night.
3. Ownership rights are not respected, even if they are backed by a trust (fideicomiso).
Just as an example: In the continental area of Women`s Island, where the new resort Isla Blanca has been conceived, over five years ago, 18 lots of private property have been illegally fenced by a powerful resort , the Sunset Group and to this date the authorities have done nothing to remove the fence that impedes legal owners to enter their property. However, the municipality of Isla Mujeres has collected taxes for over 20 years from the owners.. The police and local authorities are allowing this to continue as no actions are taken so that offenders are made accountable. (See Novedades de Quintana Roo, Invasiones en Isla Blanca.)

4. Mayan slavery

More than 90,000 thousand construction workers from the center of Mexico , Guatemala and Honduras are being exploited with no benefits if they have an accident and thrown to a common grave if they die. Besides Cancun has the highest rate of suicides in the country.(120 deaths in 2007).
(Proceso Diciembre 2007), Noticaribe, Jan 2008)

5. Depredation of the environment

Mangroves along the coast and sand dunes which are natural barriers against hurricanes, have been constantly destroyed and filled for construction, there is no law here, anyone can do what they want with no respect of environmental laws and without considering future generations.
Environmental laws and development master plans for development are constantly violated resulting in the depredation of mangroves, coastal erosion and pollution of the lagoons and acquifers. ( See Asociación Mexicana de Derecho Ambiental and GEMA, A.C., Revista Proceso, Mexico City, Dec. 2007.

Leticia Rubello is founder of the Environmental Group of the Mayaland, pioneer in Mexican environmentalism in the early 80`s and also pioneer in Cancun, Mexico, has witnessed how paradise has been depleted. When she immigrated to Canada in 1996, for 5 years she worked for the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. Leticia has been travelling back and forth to Cancun from Montreal and can see things are not precisely getting better. She now feels she must share this information with Montrealers. After all, Canada is now my home and Canadians could be affected. Governor of State Felix Gonzales Canto, has declared that the Riviera Maya is an economic miracle, but at the expense of what...

Supporting articles:
Noticaribe Dec 2007
Pollution of the lagoons is worrying
The state of the Bojorquez lagoon in Cancun is worrying, recognized the director of the National Water pollution Commission (Conagua), Salvador Arizmendi Guadarrama; however, no legal actions can be taken against those responsible for this, as they are not identified...
The factors for pollution of the lagoon are very difficult to control as the rain water as well as the discharge of anthropogenic activities so this complicates taking actions as there no one responsible speaking legally.
He said that it is the responsibility of the people that this lagoon gets cleaned up or continues to get polluted even more; this is a problem with long term solution.... and the society should monitor a government project that tends to find a solution to this problem. The society should take responsibility and say `this is my mouth`.., he said..
The main cause is the rain water that drenches de streets and pushes all types of debris into the acquifer, this is one of the main causes and it is difficult to control. He insisted.
The recent studies presented at the Caribbean university portrayed an evaluation of the state of the lagoon in which the presence of organic material from clandestine hotels and restaurants as well as shopping centers.
Regarding clandestine discharges into the lagoon, he said that no one can be charged legally. This issue is complex and power cannot be exerted.
The federal representative agreed that the municipal government of Cancun is considering the aeration of the lagoon, although he realizes this is only a partial solution to the problem. In 1997 the Committee for Protection of the Lagoon was since worried for the odours and negative image for tourists.

Novedades de Quintana Roo December 6, 2007
Bacteria from all over the world in Cancun`s Nichupte Lagoon
The pollution that for many years has affected Cancun`s lagoon seems not to have a solution.. No authority nor the marinas and restaurants surrounding the lagoon have taken any action to minimize and clean the Nichupte heavily polluted with lead from motor boats, residual waters and garbage dump lixiviates.
Two scientific research reports show that 100 bacteria typical of residual water coming from all parts of the world and at least 12 which have not yet identified, as well as salmonella and dangerous quantities of lead have been found in the Nichupte-Bojorquez lagoons. The scientist and researcher Noel Carbajal Perez, physicist of the San Luis Potosi Institute of Scientific and Technological research, A.C. , NGO responsible for the project Hydrodynamics and transport of pollutants and sediments within the Nichupte-Bojorquez Lagoons, highlighted that there has been found tremendous interconnectivity with the aquifer in the main land and the lagoon. 23 wells of polluted water have been identified which drain into the lagoon as fresh water wells.
Also. considerable amounts of heavy metals were identified This lagoon is highly polluted and between 80 and 100 bacteria typical from Europe, Australia and Asia have been found here which proves that residual water is being discharged in the lagoon.
This report was presented at the Caribbean University in Cancun during an exhibition of projects to protect the environment.