Profepa shuts down irregular construction projects on the Yucatecan coast

Mérida, Yucatán, (March 18, 2021).- In response to complaints presented by residents in various points of the Yucatecan coast, the state delegation of the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA) ordered a series of operations that resulted in the closure of irregular constructions on properties where vegetation in protection status was destroyed, and the closure of irregular buildings on federally protected lands.

The first operation was carried out in the community of Río Lagartos, where an inspection procedure was carried out, that resulted in the closure of an irregular settlement, consisting of non-permissible quality construction in that area, in addition to the fact that the work lacks the corresponding environmental impact authorization.

This settlement is located within a lot 11 meters wide by 13 deep, for a total of 143 square meters, immersed in that lot is the construction of a one-level house, 20 meters wide by 40 meters long. , the infrastructure is adjacent to the urban area of ​​the town and municipality of Río Lagartos on the north side, and on the south side, it is adjacent to the wetlands area.

The closed area is adjacent to the wetlands with the presence of the four mangroves present in the Peninsula, red mangrove Rhizophora mangle, white mangrove Laguncularia racemosa, buttonwood mangrove Conocarpus erectus, black mangrove Avicennia germinans. 

It is worth mentioning that this invasion was carried out quickly, leaving the house closed and unoccupied, there is no family that inhabits it, which causes the annoyance of the residents of the town, since it is said that house was built by people who reside in the neighboring state of Quintana Roo.

In the last two years there has been a notable increase in residential houses in places not suitable for supporting single-family homes, without authorization from SEMARNAT to promote and advance the urban area.

The second operation was carried out taking into account the registry of journalistic notes where reference is made to the opening of gaps in the mangrove vegetation zone to promote irregular human settlements on land located in San Felipe, this problem mentioned by the complainants increased in December 2018 and the beginning of 2019 continuing to date, the above mentioned by the complainants is due to the fact that the Municipal President of San Felipe promotes these invasions, with political purposes, a situation that has not been verified so far.

When the personnel arrived at the site and verified the existence of landfill roads in the mangrove area, they proceeded to the closure of 1,922 thousand linear meters by 5 meters wide of fill adjacent to the wetlands (9 thousand 610 square meters), for the creation of accesses or streets.

The Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (including the San Felipe, Río Lagartos, and Tizimín Municipalities), the Dzilam State Reserve (which is located to the west of the town of San Felipe), encompasses the municipalities of Dzilam de Bravo and San Felipe.

These operations were carried out in a coordinated manner with the Park Rangers group of the ANP, two federal inspectors of PROFEPA, and the Legal Subdelegate of this Institution, with the support of a command of the National Guard, to safeguard the integrity of the federal officials.