The Merida City Hall, headed by Renan Barrera Concha, reviewed the special operation that will be deployed in Ciudad Carnaval so that the thousands of families who will congregate to enjoy these traditional festivities can have safe spaces, with emergency protocols in case of any contingency, and facilities in optimal conditions to once again experience the joy of the festivities.
At the first point of supervision in Plaza Izamal, the technical secretary of the Carnival Standing Committee, Óscar Cambranes Basulto, received the municipal officials and representatives of the Ministry of Public Safety who came to review the details of the operation so that the inhabitants can enjoy this carnival that will present a fusion of the traditional merriment of the floats and parades, spiced with a music festival with components of all musical genres.
On the tour to review every one of the security protocols that will be implemented during the Carnival, were present the director of the Merida Municipal Police, Mario Arturo Romero Escalante, Commander Rafael Chairez Cuevas, Undersecretary of Road Services of the Secretariat of Public Safety, the director of Government, Ignacio Gutierrez Solis, the director of Municipal Public Services, José Collado Soberanis, the director of the Municipal Women’s Institute (IMM), Fabiola García Magaña, the director of the Municipal DIF, Silvia Sartí González, the director of Economic Development and Tourism, José Martínez Semerena, and the director of the Sustainable Development Unit, Alejandra Bolio Rojas.
As the first point of supervision, Romero Escalante informed that the corporation designed a special operation to cover the activities inside and outside the fairgrounds, as well as in the streets of the historic center to guarantee a safe return to their homes.
He explained that there is a coordinated effort between the public safety agencies of the three levels of government to protect this festivity with approximately 700 elements assigned to the Merida Municipal Police, the Ministry of Public Safety, the Fire Department, Municipal Civil Protection, and the Red Cross.
“The security operation includes, in addition to surveillance from the towers, police patrols inside Ciudad Carnaval, installation of inspection filters at the entrances, and patrols in the parking lot to dissuade any criminal acts against cars in the area,” he said.
He also recalled that in coordination with the Public Safety Secretariat, road devices will be implemented in the access and exit of Ciudad Carnaval to keep the roads flowing, as well as to guarantee the access and exit of the allegorical floats in a safe way.
In the historic center, he explained that there will be a special operation in the area of bus stops to ensure that public transportation users before and after the festivities arrive safely to their transfer trips either to the fairgrounds or to their homes.
García Magaña indicated that there will be special transportation for women and children to go safely to the Mérida Carnival, which will be free of charge and will leave from the parking lot of the Municipal Palace, a few meters from the Monjas church, on 63rd Street between 62nd and 64th Street downtown.
Gutiérrez Solís explained that there will be a special brigade from the Municipal Civil Protection Unit that will be in charge, prior to the carnival, of reviewing the infrastructure and accesses to the stages of the events, the bleachers and signage in the precinct, in addition to the supervision of the floats that will parade in Carnival City each day.
He also indicated that this brigade will report and attend to any incidents that may arise in the parade route and its surroundings, to channel them to the respective authorities or to reinforce the prevention measures if necessary, and the shows and use of pyrotechnics will be reviewed.
“In the artistic events, compliance with the prevention measures will be verified before they begin, and the development of each event will be monitored to prevent accidents, so the brigade will arrive before each activity begins and will leave when the place is vacated,” he said.
In his speech, Sartí González highlighted that in the Carnival route, there will be special spaces for people with disabilities and senior citizens, where they will have access to allow their mobility and inclusion in these festivities.
For national and international visitors, Martínez Semerena pointed out that information and tourist attention modules will be set up to distribute relevant material about the city, as well as badges so that they can receive information in their language and orientation about the Carnival.
In addition, he highlighted that through travel agencies, promotional work is being carried out to offer visitors these festivities, as well as with the community of migrants and foreigners living in Merida to invite them to the Carnival activities; likewise, publicity work was carried out in hotels and restaurants.
Bolio Rojas informed that the Sustainable Development Unit will have a space called “Adopt Carnival” for visitors to adopt a tree or meet the pets that are waiting for a home, and will also provide information on volunteer work at the Municipal Animal Care Center.
For his part, Collado Soberanis recalled that for Carnaval Mérida 2023 the Municipal Public Services Department will have a special operation for the cleaning and maintenance of the Xmatkuil fairgrounds to keep it in optimal conditions for visitors.
He pointed out that 714 workers will be deployed, 40 vehicles for waste removal, operational tasks and movement of personnel and 500 containers distributed inside and outside of Ciudad Carnaval, among which are crews to check the bleachers before and after the parades, verifying the street lighting, pruning and removal of branches, restrooms, among others.
Likewise, he added that there will be crews of workers on duty to ensure that the services within the fairgrounds are operational, special maintenance tasks for the stages, machinery for cutting and chipping branches if needed and cisterns to provide water where required.
At the conclusion of the review of the security operation and emergency protocols, municipal officials toured the facilities of Ciudad Carnaval and the route of the floats to shore up the remaining details to welcome the thousands of visitors who will congregate next Friday to enjoy these festivities.
TYT Newsroom
