MERIDA, Yuc.- The director of Fonatur, Rogelio Jiménez Pons, argued in the city that the Maya Train project will not harm the Yucatecan jungle or its ecosystem, as some agencies claim.
At a press conference, he announced the start of the consultation process that will be held in the 84 municipalities of indigenous population where the train would pass. Jimenez Pons recognized that the environmental issue is one of the most important points in this project.
The director of FONATUR emphasized that many points, criticisms and disqualifications have been made to the project, without having the proper support.
“Most jungles are lost as a result of the occupation and devastation of marginalized people who come to settle in those places, so the idea is to combat marginalization and integrate those people into the project,” he said.
“We consider that, if we do not invest and incorporate the communities that inhabit the jungle, eventually we will lose this valuable natural resource” declared the federal official during the conference held at the International Congress Center in Merida.
He reminded that part of the objectives of the Sowing Life program was precisely to recover some of the areas that had been affected by deforestation.
Thus, the plan is to preserve and protect the Natural reserves of Calakmul, Campeche and “Siaan Kaan” in Quintana Roo and not only protect them, but also strengthen them with the support of the surrounding communities, he said.
He also stressed that, when it comes to air pollution, the train is 100 times cleaner than a regular road and it is the roads that have destroyed hundreds of thousands of hectares of jungles in this region of the country.
He also recalled that more than 400 kilometers of railway tracks are already laid on the Yucatan Peninsula region.
The director of Fonatur, also clarified that the train would operate with biodiesel which is a much less polluting fuel than regular hydrocarbons.
The Yucatan Times Newsroom
