They sue for ecological damage to companies of the Mayan Train

Fernando Camacho Servin

Newspaper La Jornada
Wednesday, May 18, 2022, p. 13

More than 50 natural or legal persons filed a collective lawsuit against five of the main companies involved in the construction of the Mayan Train for the ecological damage that the work would cause, estimated at 26 billion dollars, said the promoters of the complaint, the which has already been accepted by a federal judge.

At a press conference, the president of the National Organization for State Responsibility (ONRE), Jesús Alberto Guerrero Rojas, indicated that on May 13, the head of the eighth district court of Mexico City, Luis Alberto Ibarra, accepted the lawsuit filed by 53 organizations, groups and residents in a personal capacity against the construction of the Mayan Train.

According to the activist, the complaint calls for the companies participating in the megaproject to repair the damage they have caused up to now, including the utter devastation of medium and high jungle in an area almost 40 kilometers long by 60 meters wide, only in section five.

Likewise, the non-conformists deplored the effects on jaguars and other animal and plant species in the area, as well as fragmentation of the hydrological basin of the Yucatan Peninsulaby modifying the course in which the water flows in this region.

According to Guerrero Rojas, at this time the lawsuit is directed at five of the main construction companies of the Mayan Train, including Grupo México, Ingenieros Civiles Asociados and the Spanish company Acciona, but it will be extended to any other that incurs ecological damage.

Support of 60 scientists

After pointing out that the complaint has more than 300 pages and is supported by 60 scientists and experts in ecology, the director of the ONRE anticipated that the defendant companies will be forced to admit that they do not have permits or impact studies environment, so the judge in charge of the issue must suspend all construction work.

According to Guerrero, when the companies realize the seriousness of the damage in the region and that they will lose more than they winthey will decide to withdraw from the federal government project.

He added that the promoters of the complaint have received threatswhich, he assured, it does not inhibit us, but stimulates us, because if there are no environmental impact permits, no one can commit illicit acts.