Despite not having environmental permits, the Cuban ballast that will be used for the construction of the Mayan Train began to arrive, said activist José Urbina.
Via Twitter, the diver who has filed the injunctions that have stopped the construction of section five of the project, said that “the Tren Maya extends the ecocide, Puerto Morelos sees the first ship of Cuban ballast arriving without any environmental authorization”.
The member of the Sélvame del Tren collective pointed out that the unloading of this material could affect the environment in the region.
“Reefs, mangroves, and people at the mercy of political alienation. Whoever does not join in the defense of the environment is an accomplice to this ecocicide,” said Pepe Urbina.
He had previously pointed out that the area includes the Puerto Morelos National Park and the Biosphere Reserve, which could be affected by the arrival of this material.
Urbina explained that the risk is that the port does not have the capacity to carry out these unloadings, so the natural areas are at risk of being affected by the maneuvers to unload the material.
Since December, Mexico has committed to bring in 200 tons of rajon stone per month, which will be used to make the ballast that will be placed on the railroad tracks.
This agreement was consolidated during the visit of the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, at the beginning of February of this year.
Such material is extracted from the Arriete quarry, in the municipality of Palmira, in the province of Cienfuegos, on the Caribbean island.
In defending his decision to import this material, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador pointed out in his conference on February 16 that there is not enough ballast in Mexico for the work.
“As the distance from Cuba to the peninsula is not considerable, it was decided to bring the ballast, with difficulties, because it is unfairly suffering from a blockade”, he affirmed.
In addition, he rejected that what was to be paid for these rocks would be excessive, since, although only 30 percent of what will be brought will be ballast, he pointed out that the rest of the product will also be of use.
“The agreement is that the ballast will cost the same as it costs in Mexico and that the rest, the other stone that is not ballast, will be sold, it will be sold by those who are transporting all these rocks as gravel or by-product,” insisted López Obrador.
TYT Newsroom