Despite repeated attempts, local authorities in Tulum did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
Javier Peralta, president of the local NGO Contraloría Ciudadana, told Equal Times that corruption makes the law impotent and discourages people from speaking out.
“Quintana Roo is one of the states with the largest number of environmental laws in Mexico, but the law isn’t applied,” he said. “People ask ‘Why would I file a report if they won’t do anything.’ This is the sad reality of Mexico.”
Those that do raise concerns are often targeted, and reports of threats and intimidation are common.
In an emblematic case, activist Araceli Domínguez of the Grupo Ecologista del Mayab (GEMA) was detained in 2005 for protesting against the construction of new hotels, and fears of similar arbitrary detentions remain today.
With the rule of law shaky and powerful business interests willing to exert their influence over authorities, locals are reluctant to speak on the record for fear of reprisals. As a result, activists are concentrating on building a popular movement rather than one with prominent leaders.
The group is working to promote awareness of environmental issues, and build pressure on authorities to regulate developments and enforce the law governing existing ones. There have been notable successes in the region in protecting the mangroves at Tajamar and slowing development at Xcacel, and the activists are using that knowhow in the Tulum area.
Proposed developments are obliged to undergo an environmental impact assessment and public consultations are required by law, but the problem of enforcement remains.
Stopping massive new developments is the priority for activists. As things stand there are around 50,000 hotel rooms on the Riviera Maya, and there are plans to double this number in the next few years.
Precarious working conditions
According to Meade, each hotel room brings 18 migrants to the area thanks to direct and indirect employment opportunities. If the plans come to fruition, that would mean 900,000 more permanent residents in an area that already has serious problems in managing both solid and liquid waste, plus the destruction of forests and mangroves to build housing and hotels.
Concerns have also been raised over the working conditions of migrant workers who work in construction and hospitality. Recognizing that some fear for their jobs if they speak out, Peralta set up an anonymous drop box for people to report labor abuses safely. He found that workers are employed on insecure, short-term contracts, with unpaid overtime a common complaint.
“The pay is low and the contracts are renewed every month or every three months,” said Peralta. “The hotels don’t hire workers directly, they use outsourcing companies. These intermediary companies prevent workers from forming unions or demanding protections.”
While information on labor conditions is hard to come by, environmentalists have the data at their disposal.
In an effort to appeal to developers, researchers such as Greenpeace Oceans campaigner and biologist Dr. Miguel Rivas from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) are pointing out that uncontrolled development is spoiling the natural attractions that bring in visitors.
“In Tulum and the Riviera Maya in general we are worried by a growth model that doesn’t take into account the carrying capacity of the area,” he wrote in an email to Equal Times. “In destroying the same natural attractions that it tries to sell, the area is killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.”
The worry is that appealing to long-term planning will have no effect on investors.
According to Meade, most hotel groups look for a return on investment of two to three years. “As a result of this short-term thinking, investors have no interest or commitment to the future of the destination,” he said.
Peralta is equally damning in his assessment of the developers. “They don’t care how the place ends up. They will find a new place and destroy that too,” he said.
As Meade and researcher Magali Daltabuit Godas wrote in their book The Environmental Movement in Quintana Roo: “The city of Tulum is currently a kind of social laboratory in which the future of the Mexican Caribbean as a sustainable project is at stake.”
Originally published in Equal Times. Born in London, Jack Guy has reported on Latin American culture and politics from various countries in the region. He is most interested in migration, labor, and human rights. Twitter : @__JackGuy