Cozumel, Q.R. — The Environmental Protection Agency (PPA) has closed down a real estate development in central San Miguel. The Cozumel plaza project was closed Monday after a citizen arrest and subsequent report.
On Monday evening, inspectors from the Procuraduría de Protección al Ambiente (PPA) closed the property where part of the plaza for the fourth cruise ship dock is being built.
Dismantling of the area was started a few weeks ago in preparation for a planned shopping center as part of the fourth international cruise ship dock project. However, on Monday, personnel from the PPA arrived to place closure seals without providing information to the media.
The new up-and-coming Cozumel plaza is part of the same Muelles del Caribe fourth cruise ship pier project that has been denied permits.
The property is located on the island’s southern coast where company Muelles del Caribe began clearing. The property was closed by inspectors a day after a local activist was reported for illegally entering the site.
The activist, José “B”, a member of Sélvame Tierra, allegedly entered the site to report the deforestation being carried out at which time on-site workers requested Municipal Police for his trespassing. He was temporarily detained.
The State Secretary of Environment and Ecology, Óscar Rébora, intervened and asked the company’s officials to drop the complaint filed against the activist. “The Attorney General’s Office is responsible for inspection and oversight, so we’ll have to wait for its ruling,” he said.
The next afternoon, PPA inspectors, accompanied by its Cozumel representative Alberto Ventura, carried out the closure, raising suspicions about the legality of the permits granted. He avoided answering questions regarding the work project suspension.
Officials placed clausurado (closed) seals on the front fence of the project without offering public statements about the specific reasons behind the closure, simply calling it a “complementary visit”.
