Cancun, Riviera Maya — The governor of the state of Quintana Roo says the sargassum issue is costing the state approximately 100 million peso per month.
Governor Carlos Joaquín said that combating the sargassum seaweed is a titanic task, adding that it’s costing around 100 million peso a month, money that is being contributed by various agencies. He says that in addition to upfront containment strategies, they continue to look at medium and long-term solutions since this is something the state is faced with on a daily basis.
He noted that Quintana Roo and the Caribbean Sea overflow of sargassum is not exclusive, since they are also facing similar situations in some European countries.
As for Quintana Roo, Carlos Joaquín said that over the next few years, ships, fences, nets, and other infrastructure will be available to combat the seaweed from the open sea. In the meantime, an estimated 100 million pesos a month is distributed around the state to deal with the problem, a figure he says will increase in later years once other solutions such as ships, fences and other infrastructure are implemented.
He says the areas most affected by the arrival of the sargassum are the municipalities of Lázaro Cárdenas, Isla Mujeres, Benito Juárez, Puerto Morelos, Cozumel, Solidaridad, Tulum, Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Bacalar and Othón P. Blanco.
The governor indicated that rather than declaring an emergency, what they seek is to have the option to respond quickly to the contingency and enable the immediate use of equipment that provides results.
“We have had many meetings, projects and plans. It is fundamental to give results immediately,” he said.
He admitted that it is not an easy task to confront an environmental problem of such magnitude, saying they require prompt action to prevent it from reaching the beaches. He says that this requires work within the sea, so they are working with the Secretariat of the Navy to drag the sargassum away and avoid, with everything they can, it from reaching the coast.
