Cozumel News 14

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The 2004-2005-winter season promises to be one of the best in years. Javier Aranda Pedrero of the Cozumel Hotel and Motel Association cites an increase in flights as well as the introduction of new airline routes as the principle reasons for this encouraging prediction.

He announced that one of the new services is operated by First Choice and offers a direct flight between Cozumel and Manchester, England from May through October. “European tourists will arrive in Cozumel every other Saturday with the addition of this new flight,” said Aranda Pedrero. He went on to say that the majority of incoming flights will still originate in the United States.

According to 2004 statistics up to this the present, there has been a 25 percent increase in hotel occupation compared to the previous year. “2005 will be our best year with respect to visitors arriving by air as a result of the diverse promotion efforts by the tourism promotion board.”

For the time being, Aranda Pedrero informs that domestic flights will remain the same. “We have found that it’s very difficult to get Mexican companies interested in Cozumel, or to persuade them to maintain their operations year round.”

Yesterday marked the grand opening of the Parque del Sol, a space funded by the local government with an investment of 1.5 million pesos. The park will be used to present cultural and artistic events on weekends and will have a permanent activity program.

Arminda Villanueva Góngora, director of Cozumel Special Events, informs that this park is the only one of its kind, with an oceanfront stage and a two-tier seating area where the public can enjoy the events.

“We also have a fountain with a bronze sculpture depicting a child seated on top of a marine turtle.” The park’s design includes decorative plants from the region and a 36-meter-high lighthouse. The park is located next to Caletita public beach.

As part of Quintana Roo’s state’s 30th anniversary celebration, there will be activities on Fridays and Saturdays throughout October, beginning at 6:30 P.M.

Future plans for the department of special and cultural events include a project aimed at organizing more cultural activities in Corpus Christi Park.

The flow of prostitutes in and out of Cozumel is increasing as a result of job offers through the Riviera Maya. During times like these the secretary of health continues supervising and guarding the health of the state’s sexo servidoras as they labor in the world’s oldest profession.

Cozumel General Hospital director Jorge Alvarez Jiménez reports that if they detect any prostitutes working without their “blue card”, the owners of the establishments will be fined.

Health department authorities and police officers regularly inspect the various Cozumel bars and cantinas where “sex servers” are employed. The government maintains control over local prostitution and avoids incidents where it is practiced in an irregular manner and might result in venereal disease.

Alvarez Jiménez mentioned that there are currently 200 sexo servidoras operating in Cozumel, but that the numbers vary because of the traffic in and out of the island. This exists because women of the “gallant life” opt to leave in pursuit of better offers, while others come to the island from other parts of Mexico.

The story of Cozumel’s ecological abuses is a long one, filled with chapters that cause outrage among citizens when they read about the gravity of those abuses. It depicts the ease with which society forgets as political and economic power work to bury the truth in Mexico’s number-one cruise ship destination.

The latest incident occurred when Hurricane Ivan threatened Quintana Roo. Cozumel’s recently-opened Atlántida dolphinarium made it evident just how easily anyone can violate the laws – especially when money and political influence are behind the corruption.

The fourteen dolphins at the center had to be moved for their own protection. In reality they were stored at the Cozumel convention center as if they were puppets that you could just put away when you were finished playing with them. They were placed in hastily improvised containers filled with water, where they remained for 48 hours. There was no one to watch over them or provide the necessary medical attention. To date no one really knows if they are dead or alive, or what their health status might be.

The Cozumel Society for the Protection of Animals along with environmental activist Guadalupe Alvarez Chulim informed the public about the plight of the dolphins. However, under rather suspicious circumstances, the state environmental inspector denied the situation existed for several days. At first it was said that 13 healthy dolphins were transported to Cancún and that only one of the fourteen remained in Cozumel with Atlántida – a business whose owner maintains close relations with President Vicente Fox. At the same time, the Profepa inspector reported that all fourteen dolphins were taken to Cancún.

While environmental groups reported all of these strange occurrences, economic power raised its ugly head once more. As a result journalists reports of the deed went no further than the editors’ desks for the next several days.

Cozumel lives under the constant threat that her natural resources will disappear with the creation of new tourism attractions. This is especially true for the island’s western coastal area, which includes a significant portion of one of the most important barrier reefs in the world.

The only public figure that presently defends the island’s natural resources is señora Guadalupe Alvarez Chulim. As president of the watchdog group Citymar, she has exposed the voracity of politicians and businessmen alike. At the same time she operates with a budget that contains little more than the moral support of friends and family.

Despite her hard work, Alvarez Chulim has been unable to prevent the ecocide that occurs on the island, but she has made the road a little rougher for investors who would like to transform Cozumel into a concrete slab. And she has managed to call our attention to bars and restaurants along the beach that encroach upon mangrove and healthy coral.

The citizenry view this woman as their only ethical and moral leader, despite the fact that her detractors work to discount her claims. Some even try to tempt her or buy her silence. Other times they seek her out when they want to use environmental regulations as a way to prevent a rival from getting a new project approved.

This woman continues to hold the ecology banner high and offers a small ray of hope to our society. All the while local and state environmental authorities distance themselves from the issues in an effort to remain untouched by Alvarez Chulim’s charges.

What Cozumel needs is an army made up of ecology-minded citizens that will never waiver from their conviction or lose their way. This community has witnessed innumerable abuses to their environment, yet many are already forgotten. And the ones that are affecting us right now are maintained under the yoke of corruption.

Only a citizens’ army could change our environmental problems and they are the only ones who can expose the fact that government authorities have done absolutely nothing in all these years.

The topic of environmental protection is not open for discussion in the state of Quintana Roo.

The application of an incentive program for cab drivers wouldn’t detract from service for locals, according to their union, because they have a specific number of taxis assigned to provide service to Cozumeleños.

The program creates incentives for drivers who transport the highest number of cruise ship passengers to downtown. The lucky winners will be awarded with a cruise.

In a recent poll taken among taxi operators, they denied knowing anything about the program, but said that it sounded very positive – and not just because it would be gratifying for them. They said it would help support established businesses in the downtown area and help increase sales.

Our public clock in the plaza inspires many things – respect, history, culture, punctuality and orientation. We all check it when we’re rushing to catch the ferry or if we’re running late for an appointment.

The clock also prompts many questions. What’s inside? Who sets the clock? Who’s in charge of maintaining it? We know who can give us the answers. There’s a person who has been caring for our majestic clock for more than sixty years.

We’re talking about the El Semanario personality of the week: Miguel Marrufo Orozco, known by his friends at “Totochito”.

We went to the clock tower with Don Miguel and we were surprised at the agility of the 88-year-old. He deftly climbed the metal ladder to the top to verify that all was working properly. He told us that he became guardian and repairman for the clock in 1935 and over time it became a source of employment for him. He oils the machinery and immediately reports problems with the motors. “Many people depend on the clock and the community can’t function without it for very long,” he stressed.

He said that he gets up very early every day and passes by the clock, but these days he doesn’t always climb the tower. “What I do isn’t difficult, but I like it and I’m used to it”, said Totochito. “Besides, I have my helper and I’ve shown him what to do when the time comes that I’m no longer here.”

Don Miguel mentioned that he always tries to ensure that the clock doesn’t lose or gain time. However, he confessed that he almost always sets it five minutes ahead so that people catch their ferry, get to work, or reach appointments in plenty of time. “This is my responsibility and one should not play around with the time”, he said.

As he perched in the glorious heights of the tower, Totochito indicated that the actual machinery is not the original, which is now displayed in the island’s museum. The original equipment was made in Germany and was very difficult to maintain. The current machinery was brought to Cozumel from the factory in Puebla, Mexico. It’s more modern and is computerized to play the national anthem and the state anthem, along with several other songs.

Don Miguel recounted how the clock tower was constructed in a rather unusual way during the administration of municipal president José Hipolito Vivas. Every time someone landed in jail, they were asked to carry large rocks to the plaza in lieu of paying a fine.

In closing Don Miguel talked about all that he had witnessed in the plaza in these sixty plus years. He has watched boys and girls of many generations play in the park below – some that are now well-known and others who have become wealthy figures on the island.

“It’s important that this tower is never demolished because it is our heritage,” he warned. “It has withstood hurricanes, transformed our plaza and it will never go out of style. It will leave a profound imprint on the history of this island.”

No one knows how many foreign-plated vehicles are circulating on the island because the last time these vehicles were regularized was two years ago. Vehicles were nationalized at that time as a result of a federal decree, but now nationalization must be processed through immigration.

Municipal authority Carlos Roque Santana says that in order to stop these foreign cars from circulating and in an effort to require them to conform to Mexican regulations, police must set up a special traffic operation. Roque Santana recommends that foreign-plated cars be detained until the vehicle is regularized. He says local police must analyze the situation and verify that the foreigner is actually the person driving the car.

At the same time he commented that the only way these vehicles can be nationalized is by governmental decree. This procedure must go through immigration, once documents are completed are there are no doubts about the origin of the vehicle.

He explained that there has been a 30 percent increase in foreign-plated cars over the last year here in Cozumel.

Requirements for nationalizing a foreign vehicle must be fulfilled by the rightful owner since these cars are legally limited to one driver – and that is the owner. The vehicles are not to be commercialized here in Mexico and owners must abide by government requirements and the specifics of their authorized permissions.

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