Puerto Marques Overpass Project Stalls Again

(Acapulco, NA 18 April) For the sixth time or more the hapless and ill-fated cloverleaf project at Puerto Marques has been stopped. Twice it was for environmental violations, once for lack of payment to workers and contractors, and twice for severing water mains in the area, leaving locals without water for days. This time the culprit is failure to pay just compensation to property owners whose lands were preemptively taken to make room for the access roads and ramps. The construction will use 5 linear hectares (5 kilometers) of right of way that has not yet been condemned. The land belongs to at least two public land cooperatives, of El Cayaco and of La Sabana. An officer of one of them, Mercedes Ávila Torres, is demanding payment on behalf of 165 members. Until payment has been made, Ms. Ávila Torres will prevent the construction company from coming onto the land. Landowners assert that the debt is for more than $5 million pesos.