Isla Mujeres, Q.R. — More than 30,000 tons of piled garbage has been removed from the island and transferred to the disposal site of the municipality land fill. Isla Mujeres mayor Atenea Gómez Ricalde reported after months of continued work, all the garbage has been removed from the island’s Solid Waste Transfer Unit.
At a press conference, she said that during her first months as mayor, she has been able to clear the garbage that had accumulated for many years, causing environmental damage.
“It seemed easy but it was not. It was a time of much planning, of many efforts and economic, material and human resources. This cannot happen again. We cannot go back to being omitted or with irresponsible authorities,” she said.
Ricalde said that “a new stage is coming, that, of environmental education for the population in general starting with school-aged children and young people,” which she added, will include “the separation of garbage and the consolidation of garbage collection schedules.”
During the conference, the mayor gave recognition to the families, businessmen and volunteers who joined in the efforts to help remove the garbage from the island’s transfer site. She said night-after-night, workers continued with the task of removing the garbage, which was loaded onto trucks and transported at night by ferry to the Continental Zone.
“Today, things are going differently. We already have a well established Public Services department in the Continental Zone, our own offices in Ciudad Mujeres, trucks to serve both the Ciudad Mujeres area and the Costa Mujeres area of Playa Mujeres and Punta Sam. We know that we still have more to go, but we are on the right track,” she said.