Islanders Protest Approval of 4th Cruise Ship Dock

[ccannon707]

Sadly it probably won't change anything, but at least some locals are aware this is not a good thing.

From Riviera Maya News:
Dozens of people took to the seaside dock area of Cozumel Monday in protest of the approval of a fourth cruise ship dock. Protesters said the newly approved dock is approved to be built between two protected natural areas of the island.

Adrián Villegas Jiménez, a member of the Mesoamerican Reef System Leadership Network, warned that Cozumel does not have the capacity, nor the road infrastructure necessary to increase the number of cruise ships, which is currently seven at the same time.

“This dock is not needed and the strongest argument is because there are already seven berths for state-of-the-art cruise ships. With this project, coupled with the fact that Semarnat authorized the expansion of the international pier, Cozumel will be able to have 10 cruise ships at the same time,” he said.
“By building the pier, the connectivity between the protected natural areas will be destroyed. In addition, this space is used by tourism service providers, an activity that many families rely on, he said.

Earlier this month, the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) approved the construction of the fourth cruise ship dock. The government gave the green light to company Muelles del Caribe, who will build the Muelle Cozumel Cruise Terminal despite ongoing expert environmental opposition from locals.

Islanders protest approval of fourth dock for Cozumel - Riviera Maya News

Cozumel, Q.R. -- Dozens of people took to the seaside dock area of Cozumel Monday in protest of the approval of a fourth cruise ship dock.

www.riviera-maya-news.com

 

[mediumone]

despite ongoing expert environmental opposition from locals.

Islanders protest approval of fourth dock for Cozumel - Riviera Maya News

Cozumel, Q.R. -- Dozens of people took to the seaside dock area of Cozumel Monday in protest of the approval of a fourth cruise ship dock.

www.riviera-maya-news.com

My sources tell me that the opposition to the dock is overwhelming among the locals. VERY few think that it's a good thing.

 

[ggunn]

I think you are misusing the word "overwhelming". No matter how many on the island are against it I don't think their protesting is going to overwhelm anything.

 

[gopbroek]

I think you are misusing the word "overwhelming". No matter how many on the island are against it I don't think their protesting is going to overwhelm anything.

Back to: AMLO declares as National Security all his government’s “megaprojects”

Normally the Yucatan times doesn't resort to such inflammatory graphics but I think they and most citizens, with out a finger in the pie, are pi$$ed

There really is no longer any local input other than financial interest in these projects.

 

[ggunn]

Normally the Yucatan times doesn't resort to such inflammatory graphics but I think they and most citizens, with out a finger in the pie, are pi$$ed

Inflammatory? Just because he is shown giving the Nazi salute and his picture is superimposed on a photo of Mussolini, you call that inflammatory?

 

[SwampTiger90]

So how close will the pier be to Villa Blanca? Will it eliminate the reef for diving?

 

[gopbroek]

So how close will the pier be to Villa Blanca? Will it eliminate the reef for diving?

Here is the graphic that was in the Riviera Maya Times which appears to be from the official proposal / approved plan (note the lat/long values)

Here is a little more detail from google maps

This puts the pier starting just north of sunset beach and the Navy search and rescue facility and angling north to smack dab on top of Villa Blanca reef along the wall until the point of Stingray beach. Hotel Villa Blanca will be looking straight out at the middle of the pier and Blue Angel will be looking at the end of the pier. Having dove the other piers for lion fish and expecting them to use both sides of the pier for docking you will get what looks like giant bomb craters along the bottom. When you get an El Norte and with the massive sail area of these ships if they start to loose control in the wind they spin the propulsion pods to a reverse angle and go to high speed to stop the ship in an emergency. The turbulence carves large craters in the bottom.
Now as to your shore dive there is not going to be a lot of room left to dive in.

 

[JenLoves2Dive]

For those interested, this is the list of 20 points presented during the protest and to the governors office etc.. The photoass were posted with the author's public post. Shoes locaton of the pier and the occupancy % of the current piers over the last 5 years.
Translated to English. Spanish translation is below, as well.
Nota: La versión en español sigue a la versión en inglés.

20 Reasons Why We DON'T Want a Fourth Cruise Dock in Cozumel
1. Cozumel does NOT need more piers, we have enough.
2. Cozumel already has 7 world-class berth positions. We don't need more.
3. The Punta Langosta pier will become a "White Elephant".
4. A fourth dock will not create more jobs, it will simply replace those that existed in Punta Langosta before the pandemic.
5. There are not enough cruise ships in the Caribbean Sea to saturate the 3 docks in Cozumel. We don't need a fourth dock.
6. A fourth pier will further reduce the coastal spaces for public use in Cozumel.
7. A fourth dock will mean the dispossession of our marine areas where we carry out tourist and recreational activities.
8. A fourth dock will increase the supply of cruise ship berthing and make the island cheaper, instead of positioning it as a world-class destination.
9. The arrival of 18,000 more tourists to the island will generate wastewater that cannotbe treated by the San Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant Miguelito.
10. The economic spill will be for a few while the negative impacts will be for the whole community.
11. More cruises mean less drinking water, more solid waste and sewage.
12. More piers alters the coastline and degrades the marine flora and fauna of Cozumel.
13. The economic reactivation will be reached when the cruise ships return, not when they build more piers.
14. The occupancy of the three cruise ship piers was just 53% in 2019, a fourth pier will reduce it even more when we reach the tourist recovery.
15. A fourth pier will create even more road problems than we already have.
16. The fourth dock will destroy species protected under NOM-059.
17. Cozumel only has one Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant: San Miguelito that was built in 1987.
18. The San Miguelito Wastewater Treatment Plant is insufficient to treat wastewater generated in Cozumel, especially in high season.
19. A fourth cruise ship dock will cause serious problems for navigation and emerging marine rescue activities.
20. A fourth cruise dock is NOT tourism diversification and is NOT consistent with the Strategic Objective 2 of the current Municipal Development Plan of the Municipality of
Cozumel 2018-2021.
Information taken from the (facebook) wall @ Adrián Villegas
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20 Razones por qué NO queremos un Cuarto muelle de cruceros en Cozumel
1. "Cozumel NO necesita más muelles, tenemos suficientes"
2. "Cozumel ya cuenta con 7 posiciones de atraque de clase mundial" No necesitamos más.
3. "El muelle de Punta Langosta se convertirá en un Elefante Blanco"
4. "Un cuarto muelle no generará más empleos, simplemente reemplazará a los queexistían en Punta Langosta antes de la pandemia"
5. "No hay suficientes cruceros en el Mar Caribe para saturar los 3 muelles en Cozumel. No necesitamos un cuarto muelle"
6. "Un cuarto muelle reducirá aún más los espacios costeros de uso público en Cozumel"
7. "Un cuarto muelle significará el despojo de nuestras zonas marinas donde realizamos actividades turísticas y recreativas".
8. “Un cuarto muelle aumentará la oferta de atraque de cruceros y “abaratará“ la isla, en de posicionarla como destino de clase mundial”
9. "La llegada de 18,000 turistas más a la isla generará aguas residuales que no pueden ser tratadas por la Planta de Tratamiento de Aguas Residuales Municipal San Miguelito.
10. "La derrama económica será para unos cuantos mientras que los impactos negativosserán para toda la comunidad"
11. "Más cruceros significa menos agua potable, más residuos sólidos y aguas residuales".
12. "Más muelles alteran las costas y degradan a la flora y fauna marina de Cozumel"
13. "La reactivación económica se alcanzará cuando regresen los cruceros no cuando se construyan más muelles"
14. "La ocupación de los tres muelles de cruceros fue apenas del 53% en 2019, un cuarto muelle la reducirá aún más cuando alcancemos la recuperación turística"
15. "Un cuarto muelle creará aún más problemas viales de los que ya tenemos"
16. "El cuarto muelle destruirá a especies protegidas bajo la NOM-059".
17. "Cozumel solo cuenta con una Planta de Tratamiento de Aguas Residuales Municipal: San Miguelito que fue construida en 1987"
18. "La Planta de Tratamiento de Aguas Residuales San Miguelito es insuficiente para tratar las aguas residuales generadas en Cozumel, en especial en temporada alta"
19. “Un cuarto muelle de cruceros causará graves problemas para la navegación y las actividades emergentes de rescate marino”
20. “Un cuarto muelle de cruceros NO es diversificación turística y NO es congruente con el Objetivo Estratégico 2 del actual Plan Municipal de Desarrollo del Municipio de Cozumel 2018-2021”.
INFORMACIÓN TOMADA DEL MURO DE @Adrián Villegas

 

[JenLoves2Dive]

For those interested, this is the list of 20 points presented during the protest and to the governors office etc.. The photoass were posted with the author's public post. Shoes locaton of the pier and the occupancy % of the current piers over the last 5 years.
Translated to English. Spanish translation is below, as well.
Nota: La versión en español sigue a la versión en inglés.
Information taken from the (facebook) wall @ Adrián Villegas
INFORMACIÓN TOMADA DEL MURO DE @Adrián Villegas

This is the signature page protesting the 4th pier on Change.org.
They need more signatures!
Petition Against the 4th Cruise Ship Peier. They need 150,000 signatures. (Currently has 85,000)

 

[Rob9876]

I think it is worth stating that the 4th pier would destroy some of the best/only shore diving on the island -- which is definitely a consideration for people (like me) considering the possibility of retiring on Cozumel, and others as well. The effect may be hard to quantify, but it should certainly be easy to understand that retirees would like options other than just more pricey boat dives.