A judge orders the suspension of construction works of the Maya Train in different points of the Yucatan state, amid a review of the environmental impact report of the railway project, said the agency in charge of promoting tourism in the country.
Since the project began, this iconic work of the administration of the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has faced several legal challenges, but in the case of Yucatán, it is the first time that a judge has ordered the suspension of new construction works while the legal hearings last. It is still unclear how the case is going to be resolved, or how long is it going to take.
“We will be waiting for this trial to reach more impartial parties with greater knowledge of environmental law,” said the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (Fonatur) in a statement released on Tuesday, Feb. 23rd.
Fonatur added that the suspension affects works in the Yucatecan municipalities of Mérida, Chocholá, and Izamal, but said it would continue with the rehabilitation and maintenance of the existing railroad, as well as with the execution of studies and the processing of permits, while the legal processes continue.
The defense organization Kanan Human Rights, one of the groups that opposes the construction of the train, has argued that Fonatur did not make a complete version of its environmental impact report available to the public.
The group called the judge’s order an important step in ensuring the project’s transparency. “With this, we will be able to demand the right to public information,” he said.
Source: SIPSE