Chetumal, Q. Roo — Builders have been ordered to finish work at the tardy Museo del Mestizaje and hand over the keys.
They have had 16 years to finish the project.
In November, local media cheered that the project would finally be ready for Christmas, but delays have continued with only vague explanations.
The Secretariat of Infrastructure and Transport (Sintra) has fined the builder 3 million pesos for missing a mid-February deadline. More fines will result if they miss March 14 extension.
According to the estimates, the 15-day deadline must expire on the 14th of this month of March. So far, Sintra has not indicated any future deadlines.
The cultural attraction sits on a pier in the Bay of Chetumal near the lighthouse.
Sipse reports that last week, the site was packed with workers but progress dropped off over the weekend.
The museum will have five levels, a 60-meter-high overlook and an open-air auditorium for 1,820 people.
The town refers to itself as “The Cradle of the Mestizo” because of one European who shipwrecked here in 1511. That man is Gonzalo Guerrero, a Spanish sailor whose amorous adventures have made him a folk hero here.
According to lore, although he was at first enslaved by the Maya leader Nachan Can, Guerrero ingratiated himself with his captors and was eventually allowed to marry his owner’s daughter, Zazil Ha. And that’s how Yucatán’s first mestizo children were born.
