Cozumel News Vol 12

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There’s a native legend in Mexico stating that within every agave plant there lives Mayahuel, the goddess of fertility. Natives who worshipped this goddess began converting the agave plant into tequila and mescal some 8,500 years ago.

Today, the best tequilas are produced in Jalisco, in a province called Tequila, which is where Mexico’s famed traditional drink first emerged and became known for excellence.

Soon it won’t be necessary to travel to Jalisco because tourists who want to know more about the history and production of tequila will find the answers right here in Cozumel at the Hacienda Antigua.

The new tourist attraction is located at kilometer 12 on the cross-island road, just 10 minutes from downtown.

More than 2 million pesos has been invested in this project, which will include selling tequila by the bottle, in addition to informing visitors about the origins of the drink and the ancient traditions around the production of this particular liquor.

Operating under the “Tequila History Tour” concept, the store will open its doors this week and offer guided tours at 10:00AM and 5:00PM. It will operate as a branch of Jalisco’s Cava Antigua tequila factory.

The entrance fee is US $15.00 or 150 pesos. Cozumeleños will receive a 20 percent discount on their purchase of tequila and other liquor, and a 50 percent discount on the entrance fee. Children ten-years-old and younger enter at no charge.

Hacienda Antigua covers an area that measures 16,000 square meters, 40 percent of which is construction. The rest of the property is virgin soil and agave plants.

The facade is a replica of the original hacienda in Jalisco where the Cava Antigua company produces some of the best tequilas in the country.

Mayor Carlos Hernández Blanco, accompanied by public works and services directors, toured the island yesterday. Their purpose was to make a final assessment of the damage to the road on the east side of the island. As Hurricane Ivan passed Cozumel, a section of the perimeter road was washed out by strong waves.

The mayor affirmed that he will ask federal and state governments for assistance in rehabilitating the road and announced that state authorities will arrive today to assess the damage for themselves.

Tomorrow the island will resume welcoming visitors with the arrival of five cruise ships and freight transporters will start up once again, bringing much needed supplies and cargo to the island.

During the island tour, authorities noted a 20-kilometer stretch of highway bordered by garbage, sand, weeds, rocks, tree trunks and broken asphalt. Staff from the various restaurants along the beach cleaned up part of the trash so that they could open their businesses once again. This in turn facilitated start up of trash collection, and more than 200 tons of garbage was taken to the municipal dump. Due to obstructions along the coastal road, garbage trucks had been unable get to the city dumpsite.

There was considerable erosion along some sections of beach, including damage to mangrove and “chit” palms along coastal dune areas.

Cozumel’s turtle camp corral and the nests maintained within, suffered severe damage as Hurricane Ivan bypassed the island last week. The protective fence and some turtle nests were swept from the beach and who knows what kind of luck they had after that.

It’s important to mention that since yesterday morning and even during the time that the storm was some distance off shore, Cozumel’s east side took a beating.

Municipal ecology director Nicolás Carrillo Fajardo stated that “with the fierce waves and strong winds, the corral surrounding protected turtle nests was totally ripped out. At the same time, the sea swept over the sand, washing away large numbers of baby turtles”.

At this time they are surveying the area in an effort to verify how many nests can be saved. Later they plan to reconstruct an area to protect the eggs.

Municipal treasurer Angel Vela Magaña says that state laws regulating liquor sales need to be modified. He stresses that authorities must be able to legally impose stricter fines on lawbreakers like those found guilty of clandestine sales.

“The current law doesn’t actually treat this as a serious crime and that’s why we’re unable to put a stop to unauthorized liquor sales”, said the treasurer. “The maximum fine for this type of offense is 5000 pesos. That’s an amount that the offender can easily pay, but it doesn’t do away with the problem.”

“It’s very common that clandestine operations are discovered and fined, but continue selling in the same location or move to a new spot”, added the interviewee. “The most common form of black market sales is in private homes, car washes or even better, neighborhood stores that supply a captive audience.”

Vela Magaña indicated that in an effort to get rid of this problem authorities need to be constantly vigilant, especially on weekends. Authorities must ensure that bars and cantinas close on time and avoid the presence of prostitutes and minors.

The treasurer reports that there are a total of 20 individuals who are responsible for overseeing and inspecting all of Cozumel.

October 2, 2004 marks the beginning of phase 2 in a project expected to modernize and beautify Melgar Avenue along Cozumel’s downtown waterfront. Public works director Ricardo Espinosa Freyre, says that the plan is right on schedule, a short pause during recent bad weather and hurricane threats.

Federal, state, and municipal governments, and the private sector have invested approximately 100 million pesos in the project, which began in January of this year.

This week workers will resume burying the network of cables that supply electricity and telephone along a 2-kilometer stretch of downtown San Miguel. The overall project will also include sidewalks, green areas, containment walls, and ornamental plants in other areas of the city, as well as new street lighting.

Authorities expect to finish with the cables and additional lighting by the end of November. The Melgar Avenue beautification plan should be completed by December 31, 2004.

Cozumel’s public security and transit motor patrol, otherwise knows as the “Eagles”, broke their silence this week. The group says they are tired of empty promises and complain that their superiors exploit them year after year.

The Eagles claim that they are expected to work extra hours during civic, cultural, and athletic events; at times working triple shifts, but without any additional monetary compensation.

The patrolmen’s tired faces punctuated by their red eyes reflected the fact that many of them had worked 72 hours during the last four days, as the island celebrated independence day. Many among the 30 officers asked for anonymity because they fear reprisal, saying that they are being exploited when they are required to work four days straight without a break.

The Eagles claim that none of the additional hours are reflected in the amount they receive on payday.

Cozumel marine park director Robert Cudney Bueno presented a graphic information system project funded by the national council of science and technology and the University of Warwick, England. The total cost for the project was 110,000 US dollars.

Science professor and university doctorate candidate Rodolfo Rioja Nieto, under the direction of Warwick biology department professor and marine ecologist Charles Sheppard, were responsible for the study.

Dr. Sheppard said that through their field work, they were able to verify that there is a great deal of pressure on Cozumel’s marine park reefs as a result of the 1,500 or so divers use this protected area on a daily basis.

Based on graphic information system data, he explained that marine park officials need to set up a rotation plan whereby areas that receive the heaviest use are allowed to rest for a certain period of time. Scientific studies have shown that polygons can favorably recuperate using such a system.

The study was initiated in September of 2003, utilizing aerial photographs, an interpretation program, and direct field observation. Analysis of the data gathered in Cozumel will continueback in England, and a final study will be presented to the marine park in September of 2006.

Local government representatives met with met private and public medical institutions in an effort to reach an agreement on how to optimize emergency ambulance services.

Representatives from the fire department, public security and transportation, civil protection, municipal medical services, Centro Médico e Cozumel, and San Miguel clinic attended the coordination meeting. The group agreed that all emergency calls should be channeled through the fire department, which will employ a specific order for using the various ambulance services available on the island: Red Cross will be called first, then the fire department, and finally CMC.

Centro Médico de Cozumel has agreed to provide on-the-scene first aide services free of charge, and once the patients have been stabilized their ambulance will transport the patient to a facility of their choosing.

The meeting environment was cordial as municipal secretary Jorge Martin Angulo explained that he had organized the gathering in response to the mayor’s concern that first aide services needed to be better coordinated.

Civil protection director Daniel Alvarez Villanueva asked for more control over ambulance attendants due to the fact that there had been reported cases where private hospitals paid Red Cross ambulance staff for transporting emergency patients to their particular facility.

Roberto Machin, administrative director of CMC, a hospital that maintains 6 ambulances on the island, said that he has his staff under control. He added that CMC’s ambulance attendants all have the paramedic training necessary for their positions. He went on to suggest that the local authorities should assign certain sectors to the different institutions participating in the meeting.

Red Cross president Marta Sempere indicated that these kinds of meetings are positive. She informed that their institution had 4 ambulances and were generally the first to be called. In those cases where they are unable to attend residents, they ask for the fire department or CMC to assist them.

One of the things that all of the participants agreed upon is that there is a real need for better service for the east coast of the island. There is only one ambulance attending the entire area, which is the medical specialties ambulance. The main problem is the lack of communication between San Miguel the ambulance service providers. This sometimes results in two ambulances arriving at the scene, without being informed that the medical specialties ambulance has already attended the particular situation without reporting back.

All of the participants agreed to meet again in the future to better define ways in which they could best coordinate, communicate and network.

Inadequate handling in additional to carelessness in protecting their piers and installations, have resulted in Atlántida company dolphins being subjugated to unhealthy pressures once again. The same situation occurred when the dolphins were in Cancun, after they had been transported there from the Solomon Islands. These are aspects that should investigated by ecology authorities.

A number of errors were committed in the process of bringing the dolphins to the island and throughout the opening of Atlantida, causing environment groups and residents to go up against the business.

With the threat of Hurricane Ivan, the dolphins had to be taken out of the ocean and placed in plastic containers, all of which occurred while using very unusual measures.

As a result carelessness and not following proper procedures and, the dolphins suffered from the effects of being too closely contained, in addition to a lack of oxygen. Moreover, handlers limited food consumption to that the dolphins wouldn’t defecate in their containers, which could produce life-threatening organic residue.

We can say with certainty that Atlántida handled the situation poorly, placing the dolphins in little “baby pools” within the convention center, and not considering the real potential for sickness or even death.

It was very interesting that all entrances to the convention center were hermetically sealed once it was learned that the media was interested in seeing the dolphins’ temporary living conditions. No one was permitted to enter which is a true reflection of the fact that they had not provided adequate and comfortable temporary living conditions for the animals.

It’s only fair to say that company directors, upon realizing they had been found out, decided not to run the risk of waiting to see what the media might report. In a drastic move, the moved the dolphins to a hotel swimming pool north of downtown. It appeared that one of the dolphins was not doing well, possibly as a result of being taken out of its natural habitat.

Last week’s fierce waves and the strong currents resulting from the passing hurricane, served to show that Atlántida’s piers were flimsy and poorly constructed. Some sections began to fall apart, which in turn caused problems with the netting that keeps the dolphins contained, and the entire area lay exposed. Metal stairways and other equipment were ripped away and carried out into open sea.

All of this denotes a clear lack of responsibility and the commission of serious errors that should be investigated by environmental authorities, after which the business should be sanctioned.

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