Isla Mujeres, Q.R. — The mayor of Isla Mujeres says so far, they have removed 3.2 tons of the solid waste that was left on the island. She says in fulfilling her commitment, a goal to remove an estimated 7 tons has been set for October 31.
Atenea Gómez Ricalde shared the update in a weekly conference she holds to inform municipal residents on progress. “This means that there is no longer accumulated garbage on street corners, in the streets or in the parks.
“What there is, is what is produced during the day, and if we comply with the garbage collection schedules, that too, will be eliminated,” she commented.
She specified said that in the first two weeks of her administration, cleaning and pruning of four parks has been done along with the cleaning of 2.5 kilometers of ridges along the boardwalk of Playa Centro.
“We will continue with these sections. This is only a starting point,” she said stressing that the ‘Caring for Isla Mujeres’ program will also be working the Isla Mujeres Continental Zone areas simultaneously.
Ricalde noted that they have inspected the public lighting and determined that 400 of the 1,230 street lights do not work in the municipality’s towns of Rancho Viejo, Punta Sam and Francisco May.
“Nor did they leave us the tools to repair them. We are working to get both the crane and the tools to repair all these lights, which in many cases, have to be changed,” she said.
“We are taking our municipality out of the garbage emergency and we are prioritizing spending to continue moving forward,” she added.
Last week, state deputy Edgar Gasca Arceo requested authorities investigate both of the former mayors of Holbox and Isla Mujeres for their lack of solid waste management during their terms.