Mahahual, Q.R. — A group of residents from an irregular settlement blocked the Costa Maya Port entrance Tuesday. The group say since the municipality cannot help them, Royal Caribbean, who recently took over the port, should pay.
Residents of the Paseos del Puerto neighborhood in Mahahual held a street demonstration at the entrance to the cruise ship terminal preventing tourist buses from coming and going.
The group said they created the blockade as a pressure measure to be heard and attended to by authorities since they have not been considered for basic services. The protestors say around 90 families live in the area with poor street conditions, a lack of street lighting and inadequate garbage collection, services that are the responsibility of the municipality.
However, since they live in an irregular neighborhood, the municipality is not able to provide these services, which is something they acknowledge. On Tuesday morning, they blocked the port in hopes that Royal Caribbean, the new owners of the port since July, will provide those services instead.
“If this is the only way we’ll get help then we’ll stay here until it happens. We’re tired of not being able to move forward with the process to get the municipality involved and give us access to basic services like lighting, garbage collection, security and street repairs.
“We’ve been requesting this for a long time, but so far there’s been no results or any interest in resolving the issue,” one of the protesters explained.
