Mexico, Cancun, 02.19.2013: The Riviera Maya Caribbean coastline on the eastern shores of Mexico has dealt with much ecological degradation in the past 20 years, including for a few examples: changing of basic landforms, filling in mangroves, tearing up underground river systems, changing of zoning laws, not respecting the laws, not lawfully requesting nor receiving appropriate building permissions. There seems to be no end in sight, as long as the Corporations are here, the Spanish boasting 80% coastal ownership now are leading this chaos, with the others learning from these destructional techniques.
Underground river systems, Yucatan Peninsula (Photo © Rebecca Sommer)
The fragile landform of Karst that makes up the porous, limestone Yucatan Peninsula has created the world’s most unique rivers, ones that run underground rather than on top, thru miles and miles of cave passageways. These caves, millions of years in the creating, demonstrates Mother Nature at her best, pure beauty. All rivers on the Peninsula run underground, moving thru to the coastal mangroves and out to the Caribbean Sea or Gulf of Mexico.
The porous rock underfoot is worthless in the fight to keep contamination out of the water flow which is the fresh water for the area. Golf course chemicals, sewage, anything put on the surface or into the ground will be sucked down to the water system that is waiting below and the old fable of what goes up must come down is reversed. This is just a recipe for ecological disaster. We have seen already over 100,000 hectares or approximately 250,000 acres of coastal mangroves, to date destroyed and although it is penal crime to destroy and fill these thriving mangroves with dirt and cement, all eyes seem to look the other way, even though these destructions are well documented with photos and front headlines.
To add to the leveling of the wetlands, we find countless examples of building irregularities in this ever fast growing tourist area. The most recent, possibly largest, and worst idea to date…. the newly permissioned project called Aldea Zama\Downtown Tulum (23QR2012UD037) located to the beach side of the city of Tulum and as big as Tulum city is at the moment, running from hwy 307 to the coastline and butting up with the National Park of the Tulum Ruins to the north, but most critically right on top of the world’s largest underground fresh water river system, Ox Bel Ha. Watch Video Aldea Zamá, land for sale tulum
Mega project Aldea Zama- to be built on top or the world’s largest underground fresh water river system, Ox Bel Ha
Project Aldea Zama has been on the planning table for years. Huge real estate offices located in Playa del Carmen, Tulum, and Cancun as well as other cities devoted solely to the sales of this gigantic undertaking. To fill in mangroves, blast thru to the river system, and to start a new city for the rich with canals from one house to the other, and idea that we see has failed not more than 40 miles away in the very large Maya Koba Resort just north of Playa del Carmen, with the natural underground water changing to a putrid green.
The worse started to worsen in 2008 when local mayor, Carlos Joaquin Gonzalez, amended in a private council session the density to give the greatest potential in this project to 40 rooms per hectare with high density residential tourist zoning. This means that in the field they could build 6,455 homes or 9,200 hotel rooms in a space of 297.34 hectares or 734.50 acres, but the project would definitely exploit more, as this is the usual norm around this growing coastal zone. This would greatly help to bring their prediction from 32,000 to 250,000 inhabitants in the next few years, in the main city with water scarcity, pollution generated by irrational exploitation of their natural resource, with uncontrolled investments and uncontrolled corruption.
According to the master plan, Aldea Zama is designed to strengthen and contribute to the development of the town of Tulum, without disharmonizing the interaction between sustainable use and conservational use that are supposed to be the characteristic of this city.
Phase 1 of the Master Plan includes an integrated golf course, its own complete shopping mall, along with hotel rooms and houses. It plans to open the large body of water whose extension underfoot is estimated at 4.92 acres in total to be closed off without direct contact with the sea, lakes, streams or other natural bodies of water, which will mean a digging out of the underground river 1.20 meters deep and opening up the interface between the well known underground river Ox Bel Ha for the water canals that are projected to run between the houses and infrastructures.
Ox Bel Ha, natural opening of underground river (Photo © Rebecca Sommer)
Ox Bel Ha, has been the largest water source of water since prehistoric times to the area and well needed for this population growth anticipation. Now, and already before much of the building at this site, Ox Bel Ha system is in trouble. This 153 kilometer underground river can now boast contamination with organic waste, particularly human excrement.
To head this messy project are some very shifty people. Partners in this project are:
1. Roberto Hernandez, former owner of Banamex and a man publicly accused of trafficking cocaine and laundering drug money. In 1998 in Operation Casablanca, made by the U.S. Customs Service, arrested Banamex employees and managers for engaging in money laundering operations and seized several million dollars from the drug trade.
2. Rafael Compean Leon, investigated by the DEA and SIEDO for money laundering since 2010 following the arrest of Julio Cesar Pina Soberanis in Columbia, aka The Mexican Julio, identified by the DEA as a link between the Beltran Leyva and ’Barbie’ with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia FARC for the purchase of Cocaine. He is a partner with Rodolfo and owns 49% of the shares of Ronac SA de CV, a company that has done big business under local power, as this entrepreneur has numerous construction contracts awarded, thanks to its ease of becoming a partner of high political figures. Ha Mayan Enterprises, Aldea Zama Ronac have both been linked to organized crime and money laundering.
3. Emilio Diaz Castellanos (Dicas Group) holds the market to sales of luxury cars, with dealerships of Chevrolet, Alfa Romero, Puegot, and Cadillac. He was one of the favorite entrepreneurs of Cervera Pacheco, a former governor of the State of Yucatan and benefited from several important works in Yucatan and other states.
4. Realtor Chablekal, marked by dispossession and irregular purchase of this communal land.
5. Governor Laviada Patricio Patron, the U.S. government disclosed that the former Gov. of the state of Yucatan and his brother Alejandro Laviada have sustained business with the Carrillo Fuentes cartel, who have given protection and shelter in the community called Poxila in the State of Yucatan. Both are key people of the links with organized crime and money laundering for Rodolfo Rosas Mayo.
6. Roberto Rosas Mayo, president of Maya Zama and major shareholder, linked to organized crime and money laundering. He is known on the Peninsula with his partners to have charted financial engineering to bolster campaigns with money of dubious origin. Also related to the theft and sale of land in the town of Tulum and Playa del Carmen, to develop real estate and tourism projects.
7. Jose Carlos ‘the Keys’ Guzman Alcocer, belonging to the so-called ‘land mafia’ and former director of the Land Commission was jailed in 2007 on charges of abuse of functions, embezzlement and grand thief, as recorded in the preliminary 2308/6 /2007. Among the alleged crimes outlined embezzlement of more than 500 million pesos for the illegal sale of ejido land for development of the Chablekal resort and residential Yucatan Country Club, sister project for Aldea Zama, along with other characters such as Arturo Millet belonging to the so-called “land mafia” and Alfonso de Jesus ‘El Mosco’ Pereira Palomo also belong to the so-called “land mafia”.
8. Manuel Rodrigues Villamil, hired by Patricio Patron Laviada to get out of jail Jose Carlos ‘The Keys’ Alcocer Guzman, is a member of the firm ‘Orozco Felgueres, Garcia Millan and Associates. Alejandro Garcia Millan, who was designated as the ‘scrubber’ of monies. This office defends narcos.
Locally main promoters: 1. Victor Mas Tah, Ex-Mayor of Tulum and supporter. 2. Gonzalo Mendoza Arcila, ex-trustee of city of Tulum and supporter. 3. Edith Medoza Pina, ex-mayor of Tulum, now jailed, received monies for her campaign. 4. Carlos Joaquin Gonzalez, ex-mayor of Playa del Carmen, also received large amount of Money for his political campaigns. 5. Filiberto Martinez Mendez, present mayor of Playa Del Carmen who received funds to support his campaign. 6. Cesar Ayala Ovando, head of Urban Development in Tulum, now a millionaire; presently under investigation for receiving large sums of monies for granting building permissions. 7. University of Quintana Roo, selling lands that of which they were solely guardians. When approaching the ‘end of the world’ the tangible and intangible heritage of the Maya are under heavy pressure from the real estate developers trying to expropriate their tourist sites and natural landscapes who are seizing lands and cultural expressions which have attractive tourists for the world market. The master plan Aldea Zama being built now in the town of Tulum, is a clear example of the commercial exploitation of the ancestral legacy of the Maya. Sources: Por Esto! Yucatán, El Universal, La Jornada, Novedades de Quintana Roo, Boletín del Narco, Noticaribe.
Compiled by Nancy DeRosa, Director of SAVE, A.C. (Society of Akumal’s Vital Ecology, Salvamento Akumal de Vida Ecologica)
* Nancy DeRosa is an american environmental activist, founder of www.saverivieramaya.org, and our Earth Peoples partner. She lives and works in Mexico, Cancun, and is one of the main expert divers that voluntarily mapped the extensive underwater river system for decades in order to protect it from destruction.
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