Playa del Carmen, Q.R. — A citizen complaint has led to the discovery of a company filling a Playa del Carmen cenote in order to continue building.
The cenote was reported located along the Constituyentes extension near the irregular colony of Nueva Esperanza. Acting on the complaint, officials from la dirección de Infraestructura, Desarrollo Urbano, Medio Ambiente y Cambio Climático de Solidaridad inspected the area and found the real estate company had filled the aquifer using heavy machinery.
The project, which belongs to real estate developer ARA, has been shut down after inspectors found three more cenotes in the building zone. The Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) has been notified so they can proceed in accordance with the law for the environmental crime.
ARA was in the process of building a new subdivision in the west portion of Playa del Carmen. This was the third time the company has been fined for filling centoes in order to continue building real estate.
The complaint was made to city officials after residents of the colony of Nueva Esperanza went to the cenote for water, but instead, found it had been completely destroyed after it was filled with land by the company’s heavy machinery.
Another citizen complaint in November also led inspectors to a building site in Playa del Carmen where ARA was found filling a cenote with stones in order to continue building.
In January of this year, the Environment Department of Solidaridad closed work on a site in the Ejido neighborhood after workers were reported for filling a cenote with cement.