Tulum, Q.R. — The municipality of Tulum has started a verification process to identify poles and ground registers in poor condition. Within coming days, the municipality will begin the formal notification process to the CFE.
The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) will be notified of the municipality’s findings and expected to correct improperly connected cables or remove them. Other companies including telephone and Internet will also be notified.
Tulum Civil Protection will begin the formal notification process to various telecommunications companies for the detection of wiring, manholes and poles that pose a risk to the safety of the population.
Sergio Canto Contreras, the Tulum Director General de Protección Civil and Bomberos, said that recent inspections in various areas of the municipality found both poorly connected cables and improperly removed cables.
“If cables are detected as being improperly connected or removed, the companies responsible will have to be sanctioned because they put the civilian population at risk,” he warned noting that these cables can be the cause of a fire.
Canto Contreras stated that a formal report is already being prepared for the CFE in requesting support in removing electrified or medium-voltage cables that are located at low heights and those found touching the ground.
He said that in parallel, they are also preparing letters to Telmex and Internet companies to remove damaged poles made of wood and concrete poles with a high degree of wear.
To date, Civil Protection has documented at least nine utility poles in poor condition in different neighborhoods. The companies responsible for the poles will be informed of their precise location so they can make the necessary repair or removal.
If there is no response, fines will be imposed by the municipality.
“We cannot allow these structures to continue to pose a danger,” he said. “Civil Protection seeks to prevent accidents and strengthen urban safety in Tulum where rapid growth has increased the presence of electrical and telecommunications infrastructure in irregular conditions.”
Earlier this year, a similar project to remove damaged and / or unused overhead wiring from telecommunication poles was started in both Cancun and Playa del Carmen. In Playa del Carmen, companies were given 15 days to address the issues.
In Cancun, the project was started along Luis Donaldo Colosio Boulevard where companies CFE, Teléfonos de México (Telmex), Axtel, GIGNET, Izzi, GTAC, Abix Telecomunicaciones and Mega Cable, among others, removed unused overhead wiring and then buried 12 kilometers of overhead lines in an underground system.
