Riviera Maya, Q.R. — President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says he intends to declare Sac-Tun a Natural Protected Jungle Area. The Sac-Tun land that lies south of Playa del Carmen in the heart of Riviera Maya remains in a legal dispute between its American occupant and the Federal Government of Mexico.
Regardless, López Obrador says around 2,000 hectares of jungle, which in previous six-year terms were concessioned to the subsidiary of the company Vulcan Materials, Sac-Tun (formerly Calica), will be declared a Natural Protected Area.
He says that the Government of Mexico will present the company with a fair appraisal of the total land equivalent to 2,200 hectares of which up to 400 were exploited independently with the extraction of stone material that was exported to the United States.
“We are proposing that we buy everything regardless of what results from the litigation and of what is already impacted,” he said adding that the untouched jungle will remain as such since he intends to issue a decree so it becomes a Natural Protected Area.
He says before he leaves office next year, “We are going to leave 2,000 hectares of reserve like the other, which is the Jaguar Park in Tulum, since in those 2,000 hectares there are a lot of animals, many native species, a lot of native fauna that is protected,” he explained.
AMLO said that the extraction banks of Sac-Tun will be used for ecological tourism and the nearby pier will be converted to receive cruise ships which currently only reach Cozumel, which could offset public investment.
“We are also in the heart of the most important tourist area in Mexico and the world, everything that is attractive, not only for us, but for our generation. We have to take care of this heritage for the new generations. We are obligated to do so,” he stressed.
Through the Mexican Ambassador to the United States, Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, the Mexican government will submit a fair acquisition proposal and appraisal. In this way, the federation endorses its position in favor of conviction and dialogue in the search for joint solutions without arbitrariness, he said.
