Cancún, Quintana Roo.- In order to face the arrival of atypical quantities of sargassum on the beaches of Quintana Roo, representatives of the federal, state and municipal governments, as well as the business sector, set up a permanent work table to deal with the removal and final disposal of this macroalgae.
The head of the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), Rafael Pacchiano Alamán, explained that the objective is to support the evaluation of projects to deal with sargassum in the shores of Quintana Roo, collect it on the beaches and avoid a health risk.
“There are federal resources for an initial amount of 62 million pesos from the Natural Disasters Fund (Fonden)”, the official added.
The official emphasized that the commitment of the federal government is to support and solve this problem, so that hoteliers and tourists are not affected.
Pacchiano Alamán indicated that these measures do not affect the marine fauna because there are very specific guidelines on how to contain sargassum in the sea and what kind of barriers can be used to prevent the arrival of the algae to the beach, its collection to avoid the erosion of the beach and what kind of machinery can be used to avoid affecting turtle nests.
The Secretary of Tourism, Enrique de la Madrid Cordero, highlighted the progress that has been made thanks to the joint work between government, society and the private sector, such as the guidelines on how the seaweed can be collected without affecting the beach and the sand.
He also said that they are studying the issue of barriers at sea to protect a part of the beach and called on the scientific and business community of the country to accelerate studies of what can be done with this macroalgae.
The Governor of the State, Carlos Joaquín González, said that they are working to find solutions that will allow the beaches to be kept clean, and find a solution to the problem.
Source: yucatan.com.mx