A collective of environmental organizations has requested that Oaxaca’s environmental protection agency halt a proposed real estate development in Puerto Escondido’s Punta Colorada beach.
Nazario García Ramírez told the newspaper El Imparcial in an interview that he met with the head of Propaeo, Manuel Acevedo, to personally deliver the complaint, hoping action could be taken in a timely manner.
García, an environmental activist and member of COAO (Colectivo de Organizaciones Ambientalistas de Oaxaca), stressed that the intervention of the authorities is vital to stop the development by private and public investors of a large scale real estate project in Punta Colorada, deemed by locals as Puerto’s last untouched green area.
He added that if completed, the project would undoubtedly directly affect the coastline, which is already experiencing an ecological and environmental issues due to the faulty operation of the wastewater treatment plants.
The Punta Colorada area, García continued, is one of mangroves and other ecosystems, which are at severe risk of being lost due to the construction of housing developments.
His concerns are not only focused on Punta Colorada but as Puerto as a whole because it is confronting overrun sewage and solid waste management facilites. He said they will have a direct impact on the sea without the intervention of federal agencies like the water commission Conagua, the environmental protection agency Profepa or the Environment Ministry.
García urged Propaeo and Acevedo to cancel any project that threatens the environment and the lives of the people in the region.
He also pointed out the pollution at Playa Principal, where raw sewage has reached the beach.
García’s concern goes beyond the poor image that is given to visitors. “. . . not only national and foreign visitors are at risk, but also the children who live nearby,” he said.
With reports by El Imparcial
