Two years after the collapse of the elevated section of Line 12, the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office (FGJCDMX) has achieved that both direct and indirect victims have signed 117 reparation agreements with the construction companies involved. There are still 12 more agreements pending.
As explained in a statement issued on Tuesday, these agreements will result in the elimination of the criminal action, as long as their terms are fully complied with.
The agency recalled that it has also obtained the indictment of 10 responsible persons: six former public servants, a structural safety co-responsible, a construction manager and two individuals. The trial of the case at the Prosecutor’s Office is still open.
The families who opted for the restorative justice process have received compensation in addition to other support granted by the capital’s government.
According to the Comisión Ejecutiva de Atención a Víctimas (CEAVI) (Executive Commission for Attention to Victims), they have been granted 120 supports of 10 thousand pesos, 26 of 40 thousand pesos and 93 of 30 thousand pesos in immediate aid and assistance. Meanwhile, the Metro Collective Transportation System (STC) has integrated a volume of cash resources that exceeds 385 million pesos in favor of those affected.
Likewise, the National Rehabilitation Institute continues to provide care to those who still require it. To date, more than 2,000 medical and rehabilitation sessions have been provided for between 70 and 90 million pesos.
Also, paid work opportunities, education scholarships ranging from 2,459 to 7,381 pesos per month, 21 100 percent scholarships in private institutions, as well as support for home improvement and rent have been arranged.
So far 92 percent of the victims and relatives affected by the collapse of Line 12 have signed reparation agreements while eight percent have decided to take the legal process with the advice of a private law firm.
According to the head of CEAVI, Ernesto Alvarado, this firm is known for recommending its clients not to sign this type of agreements provided by law. Even so, he remarked that these people have received support from the capital government.
“On the part of the victims’ fund, that nucleus has been supported with 460 thousand pesos of emergency support, they have also been supported by the Metro insurance with 3 million 105 thousand pesos, then they have received the support that the rest of the people have received and the legal advice for them to make the decisions they consider”, he specified.
According to Claudia Sheinbaum, the remaining families are represented by the lawyer Teófilo Benítez, whom she pointed out of charging fees for his work.
“Most of them are with a lawyer, it is Teófilo Benítez, some other people decided to leave the lawyer and make the agreement directly, they asked for support from the Prosecutor’s Office because the lawyer was charging them a fee”, he accused.
When will the Atlalilco-Periferico section of Line 12 open?
The head of government, Claudia Sheinbaum, informed this Wednesday that the elevated section that goes from Atlalilco to Periférico Oriente of Line 12 could open its doors to the public by the end of June this year.
Although the date is not definitive, she assured that the government will do everything necessary to make it happen and will report on the progress every week.
“We are more or less 30 percent of the way through the repairs, each section, which are 260 sections, between column and column, has its own characteristics, its own executive project, they are a series of pieces that are being joined together, welded to have a safe structure,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the second part will be ready between the beginning and the middle of the second half of 2023, according to Sheinbaum’s calculations. “The most important thing is that Line 12 is a safe line,” she remarked.
TYT Newsroom
