Experts say officials are rushing the project without proper studies being done.
January 7, 2023, 6:03 AMTrain tracks are stacked close to where section 3 of the new Mayan Train route is being built, in Maxcanu, Yucatan, Mexico, May 16, 2022.Parts of Mexico's remote southern jungles have barely changed since the time of the ancient Maya.
Over almost a year, Reuters photographed construction at points along the full length of the planned rail track, documenting the evolution of the flagship project that Lopez Obrador has pledged to finish by the end of 2023. A tree is marked with a red arrow at the construction site of section 5 of the new Mayan Train route, in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico April 23, 2022.Earlier this month, United Nations experts warned the railway's status as a national security project allowed the government to side-step usual environmental safeguards, and called on the government to protect the environment in line with global standards.
Crystalline pools known as cenotes punctuate the Yucatan Peninsula, where the limestone surface has fallen in to expose the groundwater. The world's longest known underground river passes through the caves, which have also been the site of discoveries such as ancient human fossils and Maya artifacts like a canoe estimated to be more than 1,000 years old.
Women prepare food during celebrations for The Faithful Departed in the town of Buena Vista close to where the new Mayan train route is being built, in Bacalar, Quintana Roo, Mexico, November 8, 2022.The government's environmental impact study for Section 5, the most controversial stretch, said environmental impacts are "insignificant" and have been adequately mitigated.
Women wearing traditional dresses order food, close to where section 2 of the new Mayan Train route is being built, in Tenabo, Campeche, Mexico, May 13, 2022.One piece of research used by the government to support its conclusions was taken from a blog by Monroy-Rios, who said he was never contacted by the authors of the report. His research highlights the need for extensive surveillance and monitoring for any infrastructure project in the region. He said this has not happened.
"The Mayan Train project is of course safe, monitored and regulated by the environmental authorities as has happened up to now," the agency told Reuters. Rosario Jimenez stands in front of her new house after being relocated due to the construction of section 1 of the new Mayan Train route, in the town of Haro, Escarcega, Campeche, Mexico, May 12, 2022."The government is working on good things for the country. ... Sometimes there just isn't work in these small towns, but now they have jobs," she said. "The truth is that we have benefited.
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