Landfill planned for Chemuyil

I think we all seem to agree that something should be done, and a discussion with the authorities had.. by someone at least.. probably whomever is voted 'president' of the homeowners association at Chan Chemuyil. Should be one of their main tasks in fact - spokesperson and activist for our interests.
We are coming down to renovate our place in January and would be glad to get involved in supporting them.

I agree that 3km might not be horrible from a smell point of view though a lot of coastal areas will have both a on-shore and off-shore wind at different times of the day and it is definitely a risk. The other considerations are flies, vermin, trucks and of course (and most worryingly) the overall environmental impact to the area. This is of course the worst thing because (presumably) we all bought houses here because it is lovely.

With tourism being the major draw to the area, and turtles a keystone, and their breeding ground right across the street, this is policitian stupidity at it's finest. That's the down side. On the "UP" side (per se), if the landfill is not a "burning" site where they reduce the waste by burning it, you probably wont smell anything or notice it at 3km. I live almost this exact distance as the crow flies from a landfill that burns the garbage occasionally. It's only rarely noticeable. That's because of the direction of the winds. I suspect (I havent checked) that the wind is almost always blowing inward from the ocean, which should keep it from being an issue at the complex as far as the pungent aroma...but the enviroment with the river systems carrying the pollution to the sea...that's another issue...not to mention the water you shower and do dishes with(?).

Sean

You know, I wondered the same thing. I wonder if the western boundry lines are close to the coast in that particular area - you know like maybe a triangular plot. Seeing a map of the proposed lines would help.

Thanks for posting this, Carol. I also read this on another forum. But here's something I don't understand...

clay wrote:

....In the case of the landfill we're talking about in this thread, apparently it site right on top of the new dividing line between Solidaridad and Tulum. The article alludes to the mayor of Solidaridad's belief that this could be a win-win for both municipios, as both could use it....

If the "Solidaridad" was the older, bigger area that included Tulum, Akumal and Playa (among others), and the new Tulum municipio includes Akumal, wouldn't the dividing line be well north of Chemuyil? On the other side of Akumal? I've read over and over again that the planned site is in Chemuyil, just west of our subdivision, but this seems to suggest otherwise. What am I missing in this statement?

Diane

I'm not sure we can stop this, but that doesn't mean I don't want to try. Residents of Chan Chemuyil have been in touch with various eco groups who are equally concerned about this. They are the people who are living and working there and attending meetings. There will be another meeting at the end of this month and hopefully some news (good news?) There are some political issues behind it. This explanation was posted on another forum:

For the past couple decades, the entire Caribbean coast from north of Playa del Carmen to south of Tulum and inland quite a ways has been the municipio de Solidaridad -- technically "Solidaridad Municipality" but actually with a meaning more like what we would call "Solidaridad County." Municipios are in charge of providing or contracting for public services -- water and sewage service, ambulance and police coverage, road maintenance, school systems, etc. -- that are not provided by the state or national governments.

Since Playa has been growing so quickly, it has been consuming a huge portion of Solidaridad's capacity to provide services. In particular, Tulum, which is also growing quickly, has been feeling like it's gotten the short end of the stick. So the state of Quintana Roo a couple of years ago began looking at ways to carve up Solidaridad into two or more additional municipios. The final solution, which will take effect at the end of this month I believe, resulted in the creation of Tulum Municipio, as well as two others south and west of Tulum. The idea is that these communities have needs that are on a very different scale from those of Playa del Carmen.

As part of this realignment, the greater Akumal metroplex is becoming part of Tulum municipio.

That has caused some angst. Akumalians have spent years trying to get Solidaridad's government to bring services down south, and have finally begun seeing some success. They are understandably worried that all of their work will have gone for naught now that they're part of Tulum, with no guarantees at all that the new municipio will be able to deliver the services they thought they had already secured. As I understand it, lots of people in Akumal have been dead set against being part of Tulum from the get-go.

In the case of the landfill we're talking about in this thread, apparently it site right on top of the new dividing line between Solidaridad and Tulum. The article alludes to the mayor of Solidaridad's belief that this could be a win-win for both municipios, as both could use it. But in the meantime, Tulum's municipal government is just getting off the ground, so it's unknown how or whether hey want to cooperate with Solidaridad on a project that was conceived and executed as a Solidaridad facility. So it's all kind of up in the air, and it sounds like the good people of Chemuyil don't even know who can address their concerns.

has anybody heard any more about this dump that is planned for Chemuyil???we just got back from there sunday and i didnt hear anything about it till we got back.it needs to be stoped. i copy and pasted the newspaper article ,and sent to green peace and the jacques cousteau foundation ,just so they are aware of it,but what else can we do to stop this?????

If this is not already happening - I think that WE should make sure that everyone involved in both the sensitive environmental issues of the area, the programs at Xel-ha and all tourism in the Riviera Maya knows about this NOW. green14Belize - your idea of banning together with the residents of Chemuyil is great! And yes, let's call Greenpeace or whoever it was that helped stop the development from going in at Xcacel. I don't think waiting to put it on the agenda for October will be soon enough. Although it sounds like it will definitely find it's way on the agenda. Hopefully as a success that this project is stopped!

I guess what i would like to know is how long has anyone known about this and why was it not disclosed to buyers?

Aside from the environmental impact - which sounds like it could be significant, we should consider what this could do to our living conditions and house prices..

I don't know about the rest of you but living 3km from a land fill site is not that appealing really. The smell, the trucks, the pests, the disease etc that a maxican landfill site offers. Mmmmm
3km is not like 300m admittedly, but do we know where the site is exactly?

Maybe we should band together to support the Chemuyil residents in opposing it. Maybe arrange some negative press attention on the deal.. the hotels and dive shops would support us as well, maybe even the environmental gorup(s) that got Xcacel protected for the turtles - cant imagine they will want a bunch of landfill juice ending up in their nesting site.
I was looking forward to years of enjoyable cenote diving.

Maybe we should add this to the agenda for the meeting in October.

We are somewhat apprehensive about investing in doing our place up if we are going to discover the area invaded by pests, flies and a distincly exotic odour.. kinda takes the sheen off don't you think?

Bill and Rob - Do you have any info on this? Is there somethng we can do?

I'm not sure you can do anything but you might contact the residents of Chemuyil and ask them.
As I someday hope to purchase one of these homes, and love the area regardless, I thought you should be
aware of this.

http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.noticaribe.com.mx/rivieramaya/2008/05/ignora_alcalde_quejas_de_chemuyil_e_insiste_en_abrir_el_relleno_sanitario.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522Balam%2BTun%2522%2B%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3Djds%26pwst%3D1#more

Mayor Ignores Chemuyil complaints and insists on opening landfill


(dated May 14, 2008)


Playa del Carmen, MX.
- While in the village of Chemuyil remains the rejection of the opening
of the controversial landfill built just three kilometres of the
population by former Mayor Carlos Joaquin Gonzalez, the current mayor
of Solidarity, Roman Quian Alcocer , Continued to ignore complaints
from the community and traveled to Monterrey to meet with executives of
the company was to see the options they have so they can begin
operations there. In
an interview on his return from that trip in which he was accompanied
by the secretary of Urban Development and Environment (Sedum) from the
state government, Javier Diaz Carvajal, the mayor commented that still
working on a joint proposal with representatives of the new town of
Tulum to share a trash can, as an urgent measure to solve the problem
of final disposal of waste while there is no alternative as the
possible construction of a regional landfill. Without commenting on the opposition's neighbors Chemuyil, said that
the proposal still working in the cell of the landfill that was built
in that population and see what we should be better. " However, he noted that the two
municipalities could use one place for the disposal of wastes, either
in Tulum or territory of Solidarity, as is the case, since the landfill
was built on precisely the boundaries between the two municipalities,
"will be beneficial for both." The mayor said that only are waiting to
define the integration of the Council of Tulum to sign with them the
Intermunicipal agreement. "Of course, there are resources that we can lose the Sedesol entry and signed this possibility for the landfill," he said. "There is an investment of 5 million pesos provided by the Sedesol that could serve to give continuity to the landfill." However, residents of Chemuyil
reminded the mayor that at the last hearing that argued with officials
sent by him, in this case the secretary of the council, Rafael Castro,
and three aldermen, he clearly outlined the arguments for not
supporting the opening of the project and warned that they are willing
to take more drastic measures to curb any attempt to start operations
there. The inhabitants
of Chemuyil, a town 45 kilometres south of Playa del Carmen, fear that
the new trash can cause diseases due to possible contamination of
underground tributaries that provide water to the scene and several of
the largest hotels in the Riviera Maya , As the Sirenis, Oasis and
Prince Bay. However, experts are also warning that with the launch
of this garbage dump is threatening the water wealth of the entire
region because it lies just below the system of underground rivers
largest in the world that feeds hundreds of cenotes, some of them of
great importance for tourism. However, Roman Quian has refused to
reverse its intention to put into operation this trash, inherited by
the previous administration with multiple irregularities and legal
problems in land tenure. This day, during the
interview, explained that his trip to Monterrey to meet with executives
of the company past, which was built cell emerging that so far exists
in the landfill, was to try to give continuity to the work, and that is
still required to complete the work. The mayor said they expect additional information to be analysed and take a decision. (Noticaribe)