Puerto Morelos, Q.R. — Stone material that was being unloaded at Puerto Morelos is now being unloaded in Progreso. Two Cuban vessels will be relocated to Puerto Progreso in Yucatan, where they will be unloaded and the stone trucked to Quintana Roo for Maya Train use.
According to Governor Mara Lezama, the decision to move the project from Puerto Morelos was made over the weekend during a visit by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
“In the meeting we held, this issue was discussed. It was agreed that it will be brought from Puerto Progreso,” said Lezama.
The decision to move the unloading of stone from the Cuban vessels from Puerto Morelos to Puerto Progreso was made after a Yucatan judge ordered a suspension of the at-sea unloading of the stone at Puerto Morelos last week.
The suspension was ordered after an environmental group filed an Amparo to have the unloading at sea stopped and the construction of an alternate road, that was to be built over mangrove, halted.
The constitutional hearing of the Amparo, which was scheduled for April 21, has been rescheduled for May 18 because the responsible authorities, which are the Ministry of National Defense and the National Fund for Tourism Promotion (Fonatur), did not submitted the reports that were requested on the case.
The porphyrite stone that is being shipped from Cuba will be crushed and turned into ballast to be used for sections 5, 6 and 7 of the Maya Train as planned. Rather than shipping it from Puerto Morelos, it will be shipped from Puerto Progreso, Yucatan and trucked back to Quintana Roo.
At the moment, there are two Cuban vessels that need to be unloaded. One is Melody, who arrived with 20,000 tons of stone in early March. Melody was half unloaded when the judicial suspension was put into place.
Since Melody, Cuban vessel GLS Argosy has arrived with 26,000 tons of stone material meant for Maya Train use.
