Citizen Submissions on Enforcement Matters

Canada, Mexico and the United States cooperating to protect North America's shared environment.

Jetty construction in Cancun

Submmission ID: SEM-08-003
Party concerned: Mexico
Date filed: 17/11/2008
Status: Closed

Latest update: 8/01/2009
The thirty-day term expired without the Secretariat receiving a submission that conformed to Article 14(1). Under guideline 6.2, the process was therefore terminated.

Summary of the matter addressed in the submission:

The submission asserts that the Attorney General’s branch office for Environmental Protection (Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente,“Profepa”) in Quintana Roo is failing to investigate and prosecute the actions of a local hotel involving the construction of a jetty on the Cancun coast where the hotel is located, in violation of Mexico’s environmental impact assessment laws.

According to the Submitter, such jetties have been banned along the seashore in Cancun as they induce beach erosion and moreover cause harm to coral reefs through sand deposition in the Cancun marine park. The Submitter asserts that the structure at issue was constructed after the Office of Environmental Impact and Risk (Dirección General de Impacto y Riesgo Ambiental,DGIRA) denied the hotel’s application for an environmental impact permit to construct the jetty. The alleged violation was reported to the Profepa office in the State, and according to the Submitter, there has been no subsequent action by Profepa.

Submitter(s)
Carlos Alvarez Flores

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Submission timeline

21/11/2008

The Secretariat acknowledged receipt of a submission and began a preliminary analysis of it under the guidelines.
	Submission — Submission authored by Submitter(s) on 11/11/2008
	Acknowledgement — Communication to Submitter(s) authored by Secretariat on 21/11/2008

8/12/2008

The Secretariat notified the submitter(s) that the submission did not meet all of the Article 14(1) criteria and the submitter(s) had 30 days to provide the Secretariat with a revised submission that conforms with Article 14(1).
	Determination — Secretariat Determination under Article 14 (1) authored by Secretariat on 8/12/2008

8/01/2009

The thirty-day term expired without the Secretariat receiving a submission that conformed to Article 14(1). Under guideline 6.2, the process was therefore terminated.