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They Paved Paradise.... Cruise Ship Pier Construction Starts In Cozumel Betse Humphrey Underwater USA Staff Writer Initial construction has begun on the cruise ship pier at Cozumel's Paradise Reef, despite Quintana Roo governor Mario Villaneuva Madrid' announcement canceling the project. At press time, moorings had been placed on the reef, and warehouses and a concrete mixing plant were under construction. "I do believe [the governor] really wants to stop it," says Juan Leca, owner of Dive House Cozumel, a Cozumel dive operation working to stop the pier. "But the permits are issued by the federal government and he has no power to revoke them. "Already they are filling up the mangroves with concrete. They're going really fast. They have all the machinery and materials they need to build the pier; the governor is the last hold-out." Approval to build the on-again-off-again pier is based on an environmental impact study completed by the I.N.E., the government's ecological organization. This study reportedly claims that the reef is dead and that construction will not do any damage. However, a study completed in November by Project ReefKeeper, a Miami-based reef protection organization, verifies "the existence of a thriving inshore fringing reef 5 meters from shore, and of a significant nearshore fringing reef and gorgonian zone 60 meters from shore, with stony and soft coral bottom cover totaling 25 percent... [which] run straight through the proposed site of the Consorcio H. Pier." Dive operators are moving to block construction. "They're concentrating their fight towards getting the I.N.E. to reverse the authorization of the construction permits," says Rita Sheese, a Cozumel business owner. "Since we're dealing with a foreign country, the real way to deal with the issue is to by activating Mexican organizations into this struggle," says Alexander Stone, ReefKeeper's executive director. "We have been working to do that in Cozumel. One other thing we're doing is submitting copies of the letters people send us, plus the report to some U.S. agencies that deal with Mexico." Project ReefKeeper continues to act as a gathering point for letters from American citizens interested in protesting the pier. "People send us the letters, we get them into the hands of people like Bill Horn, a Cozumel dive operator, who in turn gets them to the proper authorities," says Stone. "Response has been fairly good; we've had better than 40 or 50 letters." To protest the pier, write to Project ReefKeeper, Suite 162, 2809 Bird Ave., Miami, FL 33133. It is also possible to obtain information on the threat to Paradise Reef and register support through the Internet. The e-mail address is "save.the.reef@@synapse-group.com". The Internet site on the World Wide Web can be reached at "http://synapse- group.com/save.the.reef". Questions about sending e-mail messages of support or accessing the Save The Reef site on the Internet can be directed to Lee Wright at the Synapse Group at (214) 746-3732 (voice), (214) 746-3742 (fax) or Lee@@synapse-group.com (e-mail). Copyright 1995 Underwater USA This article may be freely reproduced in its unmodified form. Underwater USA special subscription rate for information highway riders: $15.95/year; $29.95/2 years (add $5 outside U.S.) E-mail name, address, phone, credit card number, expiration date and subscription term to: 73777.2454@@compuserve.com ----- End Included Message -----
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