Riviera Maya, Q.R. — Hotel owners along the Playa del Carmen to Tulum section of Maya Train say they are concerned about having to sell part of their property. To ensure adequate space for the selected Maya Train route, construction companies will need to acquire about 17 linear meters of property from 40 hotels.
Toni Chaves, president of the Riviera Maya Hotel Association, said that after several requests to be kept in the loop regarding the train project, they will again, try to set up a meeting with the federation.
He said that the business organization was not informed, since Fonatur officials contacted the managers of each development individually.
“We have asked countless times for the train project to be delivered to us, but they don’t,” he said.
Chaves said that the payment being offered is well below current land values, and that those who refuse to sell will be expropriated. He said there are about 40 hotels from Playa del Carmen to Tulum that are being asked to sell the 17 meters perpendicular to the highway.
“We do not understand the aggressiveness of the statement when the ideal situation would be to sit down and talk. There is concern in the sector because it is a delicate situation with connotations that the authority does not want to understand,” he said during a Radio Formula interview.
“The vast majority of hotels have mortgage guarantees, which prevents that acceptance. You cannot reduce the meters of a property that is under guarantee. There are also other situations such as the fact that each hotel operates with a density according to the size of the land, which when reduced, will make them over density,” he added.
Chaves said that other effects on the hotels would imply modifying construction, electrical infrastructure and commercial developments, among others, when the impact would be much less if, instead of affecting the hotel properties, to construct the train route on the continental side of the highway.
“In addition to all that, they also ask that we offer our facilities to carry out surveying, construction, soil testing, environmental and archaeological work. How can you have a hotel full of tourists with all kinds of machinery? This cannot be done like this. There has to be communication between the government and private sectors,” he added.
He reiterated that they are not against the Maya Train project, but against the way it’s being done. He says they have presented solutions, but they are not being taken into consideration.
“Next week, we are going to request a meeting of various associations and chambers to see what this situation is about and how to set up a work table,” he stressed.