This weekend there were reports of strong erosion on beaches adjacent to where the geotextiles are now located.
The placement of geotextiles in front of the Hyatt hotel, authorized by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), has raised the alert among aquatic service providers, who anticipate an exacerbation of erosion.
José Gómez Burgos, secretary of the Caribbean Sea tourist cooperative, maintained that they had only been informed about the placement of artificial reefs, but not about geotextiles on the beach, which is located about 500 meters from their boarding area.
“It drew a lot of attention because since last year an announcement of this project had been issued about making an artificial barrier, they never mentioned that they were going to place geotextiles on the beach. I imagine it will be swallowed up over time,” said Gómez Burgos.
The recently placed structures on a coastal stretch in front of the mentioned hotel are located between Constituyentes Avenue and 28th Street. They include geotextiles on the sand and offshore, about 100 meters from the coast.
They are part of a beach recovery project undertaken by the Haytt hotel. The permit application was submitted in January 2022. In September of last year, Semarnat authorized it.
This weekend there were reports of strong erosion on beaches adjacent to where the geotextiles are now located.
“The beach continues to erode, the shore current is very strong, and a more comprehensive project is needed; this is like an isolated event, there will be no further changes because all the other agents involved are in their daily activities,” Gómez Burgos explained.
The authorization of this environmental impact project was controversial, according to the ecological organization Moce Yax Cuxtal, because the ecological gazette published that it was a project located in Cozumel and not in Solidaridad.
This went unnoticed by environmentalists, who were never able to challenge the project in a timely and proper manner. They have requested the authorities for a comprehensive beach recovery project that involves the entire coast of Playa del Carmen and not just one individual.
Source: Sipse
