Chetumal, Q.R. — The Government of Mexico has prohibited the municipalities in Quintana Roo from hiring a Chetumal company. On February 14, the Government published a circular in the Official Diary of the Federation (DOF) for the company’s failure in completing contracts.
According to the DOF publication, company Comercializadora Chaktumen de Quintana Roo was contracted to collect sargassum during the government of former Governor, Carlos Joaquín.
However, in 2018, the barriers installed collapsed and the company abaondoned their contract obligations to collect the state’s sargassum at a cost of 240 million peso. The company was contracted to remove sargassum from the beaches of Othón Pompeyo Blanco, Solidaridad, Puerto Morelos and Tulum.
In the DOF publication, all Quintana Roo municipalities are prohibited from contracting the Chetumal company for a period of one year.
“The contracts awarded and those that are currently formalized with the aforementioned infringing party will not be included in the application of this circular,” the document adds.
Comercializadora Chaktumen de Quintana Roo was hired during the government of Carlos Joaquín González to carry out sargassum containment work by installing barriers.
In 2018, the state government signed a contract for 240 million pesos, however, the net barriers collapsed after a few weeks and the company abandoned the collection work at the end of 2019.
It was then that the Federal Government, through the Secretary of the Navy (Semar), took action on the matter and sent personnel and material resources to help clean up the sargassum from Quintana Roo beaches.
