Mahahual, Q.R. — Only one of the demolition areas of Perfect Day Mahahual has been affected by the recent closure. Royal Caribbean representatives say they have not started construction, only demolition.
The Profepa closure carried out last week only affects one of the sites that had been approved for demolition on existing structures.
During a virtual press conference Wednesday, Jay Schneider, the Director of product innovation at Royal Caribbean and Ari Adler Brotman, President of Royal Caribbean Group Mexico, indicated that they are reviewing the legalities of the closure.
The closure was applied to an area where they were removing pre-existing structures in poor condition. Machinery was also on site to remove industrial waste that was found on the land when Royal Caribbean took over.
They stated that Royal Caribbean has hired two independent environmental experts to conduct a thorough investigation of the issues raised since the site closure.
On January 30, inspectors from the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) closed the Perfect Day Mahahual project. According to Profepa (Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente), inspectors found filling and compaction work being carried out on a rustic road in a mangrove area, along with demolition and infrastructure dismantling activities.
During the press conference, the Royal Caribbean representatives stated that since November that they had informed the community that existing infrastructure would be removed.
To do so, they obtained a document from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) indicating that they did not need environmental authorization, and they processed the necessary local permits to carry out the work.
Royal Caribbean representatives argued that these structures posed a safety risk in addition to containing industrial and marine waste that needed to be removed.
Regarding the injunction filed by the DMAS organization against the modifications to the PDU approved by the Othon P. Blanco City Council, Jay Schneider clarified that the suspension is directed at the municipal government, not the company, because of the process by which the modification was made, and not the content of the modifications themselves.
He also denied that these changes were tailored to the company’s needs, but rather included a series of requests made by the community and gathered in working groups.
Adler Brotman explained that since it is was only an update to the PDU, the law does not require a public consultation and is exclusively the responsibility of the Othón P. Blanco City Council.
Schneider said the organization that filed the injunction is dedicated to filing similar appeals against other developments in different parts of the country for its own purposes, and not for altruistic ones.
Schneider said regardless, they are maintaining their projects and investments for the benefit of the community which include the construction of a community center, drainage infrastructure and other improvements.
He also rejected the claim that the Perfect Day project would damage 45 hectares of Mahahual mangrove since where they will build is on already impacted land, not the mangroves. They are optimistic that the project will be finished on tine for the end of 2027.
