Playa del Carmen, Q.R. — Beach-side businesses along fourth to sixth streets are concerned about the sargassum hills being formed along a section of central Playa del Carmen.
The mounds of seaweed has been collected and piled for several days since the test-installation of a sea barrier by the company Grupo Ar-Co Mexico. The mounds of seaweed run several blocks and have generated an intolerable smell as well as view.
Numerous businesses say patrons no longer come to eat due to the smell and appearance of the beach. One businessman says that when Zofemat was in charge of the cleaning, it was never as serious as it is now, adding that “the company that has arrived is a calamity”.
He says they lack strategy and do not know what to do since the seaweed jumps their barriers. The company, who provided the same sea barrier system last season, was rehired again this year to deal with the sargassum.
Earlier this week, state governor Carlos Joaquín González clarified that the placement of sargassum collection networks in Playa del Carmen is the responsibility of the Solidaridad municipality and that the company Grupo Ar-Co Mexico was hired by city council.
He says that his administration will work only with the Secretariat of Marina, adding that the sargassum has become a plague for Quintana Roo beaches and that they are hoping the upcoming meeting with other international countries affected by the seaweed will lead to finding possible solutions.
