The National Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur) asked the Bacalar ejido to incorporate 1,000 hectares in the urban real estate project that is part of the Maya Train, in addition to another 6 hectares for the construction of the railway station.
Luis Chimal Balam, ejidal commissioner of Bacalar, assured that since the last meeting with Rogelio Jiménez Pons, director of Fonatur, more than a month ago, the negotiations are stalled, since the ejido assembly will not authorize incorporating such a large area into the project without having the certainty that there will be an economic benefit for the ejidatarios.
The ejido leader added that there is absolutely no agreement on the surface that they are willing to incorporate into the Tren Maya project.
“The assembly showed Jimenz Pons three places, and he liked of them, so he said that they were going to conduct the studies and then present them to the assembly, but later he said that they want 1,000 hectares right next to that spot, but the assembly only authorized the piece of land where the train station is going to be built, ” he explained.
“Since then, there have been no more rapprochements, because the assembly’s stance in this regard is immovable, that is, only allowing studies on an area of 6 hectares for the train station, and waiting for Fonatur to present an economic proposal for the 1,000 additional hectares that it has requested around the station”, he detailed.
“Rogelio Jiménez came twice with me to tell me that they have a population center planned next to the station, but my people also need resources. We ask him to change the land use in favor of the ejido and then we can negotiate the 1,000 hectares, ”said Chimal Balam.
For his part, Jiménez Pons confirmed that there is a proposal to incorporate 1,000 hectares of the Bacalar ejido into the Maya Train project, but it is not about expropriations, but rather a partnership with the ejidatarios so that they can rent their land to eventual investors in real estate projects that are planned to be constructed around the train station.
“The incorporation scheme that Fonatur proposes to the ejidatarios is the investment and real estate trust, a figure used to promote investment in real estate by placing Real Estate Trust Stock Certificates on the Mexican Stock Exchange”, Jimenez Pons said.
“This model seeks to take advantage of Fonatur’s expertise in the generation of projects, which will be put to the consideration of the rating agencies so that they can prove their profitability, and at that moment launch them on the market to acquire the capital to develop the proposals, even considering employing retirement funds, which have also raised their hands to participate,” Jimenz Pons concluded.
