COPARMEX Snaps at Mayan Train, Dos Bocas

Controversy has once again reached the government’s infrastructure ambitions. Milenio reports that COPARMEX President Gustavo de Hoyos voiced, in his weekly briefing, harsh criticisms against two of this government’s flagship infrastructure projects, the Mayan Train and the Dos Bocas refinery.  De Hoyos accused both projects of being executed without an official environmental impact report. This means that SEMARNAT, the public institution in charge of issuing this document, was working outside its legal framework and failing to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities.  

De Hoyos said this fact goes against the government’s repeated statements in favor of environmental protection. He also spoke about SEMARNAT’s lack of operational maneuverability, which resulted from a 30 percent budget cut. 

Ready for more? Here’s the Week in Infrastructure!

SCT Signs Agreement With Toluca Airport

In an effort toward the planned Metropolitan Airport System (composed by the AICM, the Santa Lucia airport currently in construction and the Toluca Airport), El Universal reports that SCT has finalized an agreement with Toluca Airport authorities and with the corresponding regulators in the State of Mexico government. This agreement extends the bonds of cooperation between Mexico City and State of Mexico airport managers to facilitate the coordination that will become increasingly necessary for the Metropolitan Airport System to function as planned. 

Mexican Women Invited to Participate in OAS’ “Cyberwomen Challenge”

Since 2018, OAS has organized the “Cyberwomen Challenge” as a platform to promote gender diversity in IT jobs all over Latin America. The competition is specifically focused on cybersecurity achievements and technologies. This year’s iteration will take place on Aug. 5, entirely online to facilitate wide participation despite COVID-19. SCT issued an official press release this week encouraging Mexican cybersecurity experts to participate. Authorities both in the OAS and Mexico hope that initiatives such as this one can contribute towards closing the significant gender gap in the IT workforce.  

Rail Cargo Grows in June

Figures published by SCT this week reveal that rail cargo showed a significant increase during the month of June. 6,838 million tons per kilometer traveled through the system during that month, representing an increase of 3.62 percent when compared to May. This represents the first positive variation in this category and is part of a total of 42,306 million tons per kilometer in total moved between January and June 2020. 

New General Coordinator of Ports and Merchant Marine

As part of the ongoing staff changes at SCT that began last week with the resignation of its former head Javier Jiménez Espriú, SCT reports that Héctor López Gutiérrez has been replaced by Rosa Icela Rodríguez Velázquez as General Coordinator of Ports and Merchant Marine.