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The Cozumel News in English
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Each week we select articles from local newspapers that amuse or interest us and then translate them into English. We wish to stress that these translations are literal --English versions of exactly what was originally written in Spanish by reporters for Por Esto, Diario de Quintana Roo, Novedades and El Seminario. It should also be mentioned that we cannot always verify the facts in the stories we publish here. We leave that job to the newspaper that originally published the article. We appreciate hearing from our readers so please feel free to E-Mail US your questions, suggestions and comments. You may also wish to consider starting a discussion on any topic below that interests you by posting on the Living on Cozumel Forum.
Note: These articles are a great deal of work to find and translate. They are under copyright. But we all know what a temptation it is to want to share interesting info all over the internet. We don't mind you copying short snippets. But .....
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The Cozumel News in English, Vol 39 |
May 28-June 3, 2006 |
Headache for a blacksmith and an aluminum fabricator by PROFECO |
Cozumeleños often assume a mutual spirit of confidence and goodwill when acquiring material goods and hiring services.
but in many instances wicked people take advantage of this attitude as is the case with an ironworker and an aluminum fabricator who head the Black List for fraud that is maintained by the Federal Attorney for Consumer Protection's office (PROFECO). .
The representative of PROFECO in this municipality, Ramiro Velez Marino, pointed out that the blacksmith José Guadalupe Arias Camarillo alias The Chilango and Eduardo Chu Foyoc are the two people who have received the most negative reports to his office from consumers.
But now due to the high incidence of complaints against these subjects and their failure to comply, the reports that arrive at PROFECO are channelled directly to the office of the government attorney for legal prosecution.
He said that normally these persons ask for a 50 % f advance payment onthe work that is supposedly to be completed within a certain time frame. When the work is not fulfilled and a complain registered with PROFECO, the office takes bold administrative moves and has the workshops closed down. Yet still the fraudulent workers do not respond.\
Velez Marino manifested than now if more complaints are lodged against these people and they refused to come across with the goods or a refund, they would be channeled directly to the office of the government attorney of the court of equity for criminal prosecution and the coordinator for the criminal office has agreed to give special attention to any future complaints made against these two individuals.
MARINA PROJECT DEBATE MOVES BEHIND CLOSED DOORS |
Tthe town council and the mayor met again yesterday with some boat owners and other businessmen but excluded all groups that have expressed opposition to the projected expansion and development of La Caleta, one of the island's two marinas, and the one most used by fishermen and dive operations..
The meeting, which in fact was first planned as another public event to be held in the Xel Ha Auditorium of the Palacio was changed to a private one at the home of the mayor at the last minute. .The city's Department of Social Communications sent a message asking for reporters to abstain from trying to cover the meeting, since it would be private, and promising to send round a press release with accompanying photographs laying out the results of the encounter.
But apparently even the employees of the city's public relations office were excluded from the meeting. Which leads this reporter to conclude that city hall plans to recognize only the opinions of this vested interest group as legitimate on the subject of the project.
And the mayor has in fact acknowledged in an interview that he will only recognize bona fide users of the marina in these discussions. These include the wife of the Director of the Department of Ecology, Verónica de Romo and several other Mexican and foreign businessmen that are all related to the project and are interested in it moving forward..
Excluded were Guadalupe Alvarez, Cozumel's foremost environmental activist and Fernán Salazar - one of oldest boatowners in the marina who has also been involved in organizing opposition to the proposed project among other boat owners and small businesses that work from the marina..
. Meanwhile Mayor Ortega Joaquín reaffirms his support of the Fonatur project and continues to insist that the current boat owners and other small businesses that are currently using the marina will not be evicted without being given another option first.
The mayor accepted however that a hydrological study of the zone would have to be undertaken and approved first. But at last week's meeting Fonatur's delegate could remember no details whatsoever of this supposed study and it appears that one may not yet be underway. The study should take into account not just the environmental impact but also the chances for the project to be a marketing success rather than just another failed investment such as has been see in other parts of the country when all the talk of bringing in tourist dollars failed to materialize leaving a coast full of white elephants.
HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS FOR THE 2006 SEASON GETS UNDERWAY |
This Tuesday the Specialized Operating Committee whose work is prevention of problems in the approaching season was reinstated. The work of managing the season of forest fires was closed down besides in the same event.
The event was attended by the head of Civil Defense for Quinta Roo, Nemesio Medina Robledo, as well as the commanders of all the branches of the military in Cozumel who all insured that everything finds itself prepared for the imminent season..
The first order of business was to close down the season 2005-2006 forest fire season work which this year handled 3 large fires and several smaller ones that did not grow to substantial size. .
Now, although the fire committe continues to monitor for fires especially near areas where there are still great quantities of combustible materials left over from the last hurricanes, it is expected that the oncoming rainy season will placate the fire risk. Which is why attention can now be turned to hurricane preparedness work..
All emergency bodies, including the military and the systems of civil protecton for the municipality are involved in this work. .
Upon his arrival at Xel Ha auditorium, Civil Defense head of the state, Nemesio Medina Robledo, said that as a first action of all the committees of the state will be to check the status of the refuges and shelters; Generally storehouses, auditoriums or schools, find themselves ready to be used again this year.
He also affirmed that by June 15 a census of all of the hotels in the state will be completed and each hotel will in future be required to register all their guests so as to know immediately how to find and protect them in the case of another big storm. .
Hurricane season begins officially this first of June and by that time, Medina Robledo informed, the eight state committees will be set up and ready for continuous action in the case of emergencies. .
These committees have the function of coordinating on the local level and with the federal government in the event of an emergency, a structure that demonstrated its effectiveness very well during the 2005 hurricanes.
When in spite of the impact of Wilma, the fiercest hurricane in the history of the Carribbean, the human losses were reduced to practically to zero and and important percentage of materials have been restored since the storm. .
For his part, the Special Operating coordinator for Huracanes in the state, engineer Luis Carlos Rodríguez Hoy, stressed that the prognosis for 2006 for the formation of natural phenomena does not particularly indicate touchdowns in since they can whip up anywhere in the Atlantic..
He reiterated that the members of the committe must be careful in the words they use to express themselves before potential hurricanes since abuse of any word could generate pyschosis in the population and make the situation much more difficult to handle..
You insisted that the coordination that he represents will be to focus on all actions necessary to safeguard the citizenship in the event of a meteorlogical phenomenon.
The committee will announce in good time through the local media in the event that some meteorological system approachs the island so that the population will have plenty of time to get ready.
CITY FINALLY TAKING BIDS ON CABLE/WIRE CONCEALMENT ON THE MALECON |
A year and three months after completing the work of remodelling the waterfront, on July 10 the city will begin to take bids for the work of removing phone and electric poles and concealing wires and cable underground.
A bid for this work had already been made and accepted before the onset of Wilma but since then money and labor went into the Cancun hotel zone repair and now they must start the whole proceess again. However there have been important advancements in the methods to be used and they are checking to see whether the materials needed may already be on the island.
According to Ricardo Espinosa Freyre, Director of Public Works for the city, informed that the bidding process will take one month and if all goes according to plans telephone and electric cables will be buried and posts removed along the malecon between Calle 11 and Airport Blvd by November of this year.
HELMETS SOON TO BE REQUIRED FOR MOPEDS |
The moped is the principal vehicle of transport on the island. It takes up little space, does not require a great investment but can be mortal for the driver if he drives unprotected. There are currently approximately 27.000 mopeds circulating in Cozumel.. The authorities fixed a six months warning period after which it will be a legal obligation for all drivers and riders to wear helmets or risk fines.
CORPUS CHRISTI ROBBERY Por Esto |
Robbers entered a Corpus Christi home near the Chedraui Grocery store while the family were sleeping. The householders did not notice the loss until the next morning when they got up to discover that their SUV was gone from their driveway. In addition a VCR and a laptop computer were discovered missing. The thieves also helped themselves to a pound of sliced ham and a loaf of Bimbo bread from the fridge before absconding in the stolen vehicle. The vehicle has since been recovered but none of the other stolen items. The thieves have not as yet been apprehended.
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