PAN wants public to have a say in Mexico City

A new bill would force City Hall to hold 'consultations' before starting construction projects

Mexico Weekly / April 4, 2011

A PAN assemblyman has proposed a bill that would force City Hall to hold public consultations before beginning construction on any public works project.

PAN lawmaker Federico Manzo has submitted a bill to the Federal District Legislative Assembly to modify the city's law on public projects, at a time when social movements claim City Hall has not maintained dialogue with residents near the sites of several major construction projects.

“We want the city government and the boroughs to be obliged, by law, to hold public consultations before beginning any project that implies alterations to the lives and habits of capital residents,” said Manzo, a member of the Transportation Committee, Reforma reported Monday.

Although the current law on public projects recommends that government officials “listen to and evaluate” the opinions of citizens, the provisions do not specify if the opinions are binding.

Bill Faces Hurdles

Manzo's bill would oblige the city government to hold such consultations in certain cases: when public areas would be affected; when streets would be closed permanently; when the project would impact the income of nearby businesses; and when the structure of nearby real estate would be affected.

The consultation would also need to take place six months before project bidding begins, the bill proposes.

Some residents and social groups say the capital government has lacked communication and transparency as several projects are underway: the Supervía (a bypass to connect the Santa Fe district with southern Mexico City); Line 12 of the Metro (in the southeastern-southern areas); an arena and stadium in Azcapotzalco; and the recently completed Line 3 of the Metrobús (in central Mexico City).

A common complaint among people living near project sites is that the extent of the impact on the environment, traffic, noise, pollution and aesthetics was never made clear before construction began, and was not made clear until after the project was well under way.

The bill faces several hurdles. Among them that the PAN only holds 14 seats in the 66-member Legislative Assembly. In contrast, the governing PRD holds 34 seats, with which they practically control the assembly.

Public works projects have been one of the shining points of Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard.

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DF Human Rights Commission calls for Supervía suspension

Semarnat may green-light construction in exchange for more stringent mitigation measures

By BRONSON PETTITT

Mexico Weekly / Jan. 21, 2011

The capital's Supervía has suffered a setback by the Mexico City Human Rights Commission but may be successful on the federal level.

The CDHDF is recommending the capital government suspend construction of the bypass until a public consultation takes place, while the federal Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat indicated Thursday it may green-light construction in exchange for more stringent mitigation measures.

Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard reiterated his refusal to suspend construction, but said he would “carefully” review the CDHDF report, El Universal reported.

In its 60-page recommendation issued Thursday, the CDHDF identified six human rights that were violated in the construction of the Supervía: the rights to decent housing, a healthy environment, water, information, citizen participation, and legal security.

The commission made a 10-point recommendation, the first of which orders the city to stop construction until a public discussion is held “to guarantee an extensive and plural participation in which the concerns, opinions and proposals of people affected by the project are heard and considered.”

Other points included:

• The capital government should have sufficient evaluations and assessments of the needs for mobility of people and commuters in the southwestern part of the city; using this diagnostic, sustainable transportation methods should be considered, and any subsequent project should have a complete environmental impact study that adheres to capital environmental and human rights laws.

• The third recommendation calls for transparency in the first and second points and allow citizens to accessibly and easily request information on such projects.

• Capital environmental laws should be modified so that public consultations on environmental impact studies be required.

• Middle- and top-level authorities should receive training by the CDHDF on human and environmental rights.

• The capital government should issue a press release within 30 days to recognize that Supervía opponents can legitimately protest the Supervía and defend themselves.

• The Magdalena Contreras Borough should promote transparency via awareness campaigns and implement the means to allow residents to easily and permanently request public information on services, procedures, applications and programs.

• The capital and Magdalena Contreras Borough governments should undertake a diagnostic on the psychological, medical, family and legal needs of residents in this borough who have been affected by the arrival of hundreds of riot police monitoring construction.

• Within three months, the capital government should design and implement a program to rebuild the social fabric in the La Malinche neighborhood amid the conflicts created by the Supervía, which includes at least urban improvement to green, cultural and recreational areas.

• The Álvaro Obregón Borough should implement an oversight and dissemination mechanism to properly and legally grant public projects or government actions that could affect the rights of residents in this borough.

In its recommendation, the commission also addressed a petition from 22,460 residents who acknowledged mobility problems in the southwestern part of the city and who supported the Supervía. The CDHDF said the arguments lacked a complaint; rather, the arguments underscored the conviction that the government needs to solve transportation problems for those who commute to or from Santa Fe.

Green Light … Maybe

Meanwhile, the federal Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat says it will request from the capital government a series of environmental conditions in exchange for approval to construct the Supervía, Reforma reported Friday.

Semarnat Secretary Juan Rafael Elvira said the secretariat is analyzing environmental recommendations – a resolution of which is due Jan. 26 – which the secretariat will send to the capital government to construct the bypass.

These might include improvements to public transportation in and near the Santa Fe area, a reduction of the number of cars that use the Supervía and replacement of the trees that are removed, Elvira said.

“We consider that since the Mexico City Valley has had so many problems of loss of trees, surface area and forests, all of these trees ought to be replanted – not be cut down and replaced by scrawny 10-centimeter trees,” Elvira told Reforma.

If the Supervía includes among its objectives improving mass transportation and discouraging the use of cars, it can be a positive project for the city, Elvira said.

The project, he added, already has the necessary rezoning permits. And since all but three hectares of the construction site are located in non-federal zones, Elvira said the Semarnat does not need to authorize the Environmental Impact Study, presented by the construction company.

This study was criticized by 19 UNAM and Metropolitan Autonomous University professors and researchers last summer. In a 21-point critique, they said that the information prepared by the construction company was superficial, vague, riddled with misinformation, lacked hard data and citations from credible researchers, and ignored or downplayed the extent of impacts on potential pollution and damages to soil, aquifer, flora and fauna in the area.

The study was approved by the capital Environment Secretariat, Reforma reported.

Request for More Information

Also on Thursday, the DF Institute for the Access to Public Information (InfoDF) ordered the capital government to make public the Supervía's master plans, financial information, investment recovery details and a catalogue of items, quantity and unit prices used for the bypass.

Supporting documents to the Supervía's concession titles – where said data are included – are not available on the project's website. A resident in the affected area requested the Chief Clerk's Office the data but only received a portion of them.

The resident filed a complaint, prompting the InfoDF to give the office a five-day deadline to turn over all of the information.

“The Chief Clerk's Office reserved all of this information, arguing that the said attachments contained confidential data that could create advantages for third parties and risk the patrimony of the company that is doing the projects,” InfoDF Commissioner Jorge Bustillos told Reforma.

A public version of the required information can be created and released while omitting sensitive information on the concessionaire, Bustillos said.

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