Alonso Urrutia and Alma Muñoz
La Jornada Newspaper
Friday, December 6, 2024, p. 11
With a joint investment of 32 billion pesos, through the Ministry of the Navy, the federal government will undertake the modernization and expansion of six ports (Ensenada, Progreso, Veracruz, Acapulco, Lázaro Cárdenas and Dos Bocas), to complement the actions that are underway in the port terminals of Salina Cruz, Coatzacoalcos and Manzanillo, according to the report presented yesterday by the agency.
In the presidential morning conference, the Secretary of the Navy, Admiral Raymundo Morales, and other heads of the naval command explained the progress in the trans-isthmus railway, which crosses the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and its branch routes, as well as the 12 development poles that includes the project.
The objective is not for them to be disconnected poles from the communities, but for them to bring them benefits; It is not like the development of wind farms in the isthmus, which occurred in a disorderly manner and at the expense of the communities, but, on the contrary, that they have benefits, that there is comprehensive development in the area
said President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Morales maintained that each of these poles has particular uses, such as, for example, those close to Coatzacoalcos are basically for the petrochemical industry. The plan is to promote an industrial park scheme, but with community benefit.
How are we going to protect the population? The Secretariat of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development is already preparing urban development and territorial planning plans, with the municipalities
Morales reported.
The official added that 16 of the 79 municipalities involved have already approved their plans, in such a way that the growth of the urban area and all services are orderly and we do not have an impact on the population.
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The transisthmic train
Vice Admiral Juan Carlos Vera, responsible for the works of the trans-isthmus train, stated that two of the three branches of the project are already in operation.
The first is that of the main Salina Cruz-Coatzacoalcos route, with an area of territorial influence in the states of Veracruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco and Chiapas, which includes 105 municipalities with a population of 4 million 677 thousand people.
From December 2023 to date, this route has moved 231 thousand tons of cargo and 65 thousand passengers, Vera added.
The second project underway is the branch from Coatzacoalcos to Palenque to connect with the Mayan Train.
The third route, which runs from Salina Cruz to Ciudad Hidalgo, on the border with Guatemala, has a general progress of 58.5 percent, according to the report.
The general director of Port Development and Administration of the Navy, Rear Admiral Marco Antonio Martínez Plancarte, reported that there is a project to increase cruise reception capacities in Ensenada and reserve the neighbor of El Sauzal for cargo, all with an investment of 5 thousand 745 millions of pesos.
In the port of Veracruz there will be expansion works that will increase the operational capacity of the terminal, with investments estimated at 1,600 million pesos.
In Acapulco, the plan is to rehabilitate the docks damaged by the hurricanes Otis (October 2023) and John (last September) and expand its capacities, with a budget of 386 million pesos.
In Lázaro Cárdenas, the operational capacity will be substantially increased from 22 million to 40 million tons, with an investment of 6,146 million pesos.
An expansion of the port of Progreso will make it the main port of the Yucatan Peninsula, with a mixed investment of 7,225 million pesos.
Work is underway in Manzanillo to consolidate it as the first port in the country and third in Latin America, with an investment of more than 13 billion pesos, according to the report.
