Cozumel, Q.R. — Approximately 3,000 homes are required to fulfill needs on the island of Cozumel. According to Genaro Sena Vidal, the island’s Secretariat of Urban and Sustainable Territorial Development (Sedetus), they have nearly 3,000 outstanding housing applications.
He said that the applications are from families looking for land, however, the agency does not have land assignments in its short-term plans.
Vidal explained that developers who own island land charge very high prices leaving most families unable to afford to buy property, so instead, those families turn to the agency.
Despite the high demand, Vidal says Cozumel also lacks a program to fulfill those types of land requests. Sedetus is not in a position to allow uncontrolled growth or hand over state land, he pointed out.
He says in the meantime, the agency keeps a record of the land requests which are updated periodically when island families move.
Last week, Wilma Padilla Barbosa, President of Cozumel Coparmex (Confederación Patronal de la República Mexicana) reported island housing was noted as being 30 percent more than on the mainland, a factor, she said, that encourages overcrowding and insecurity.
