Chicxulub, Yucatán— It’s back to square one for neighbors who don’t want to be overshadowed by a looming cellphone tower.
Although Progreso city officials confirmed that the Mexico Tower Partners lacks paperwork and oversight, the company is still installing massive antenna in a residential neighborhood.
On Tuesday, a crane partially blocked the street to erect a base that appears ready to hold an antenna up to 200 feet, the typical height of such a structure.
Neighbors, who first fought back construction over a year ago, were dismayed to see workers back on the job, installing a giant metal tower rise from the ground, Progreso Hoy reports.
Workers ignored angry neighbors and an ecological official and continued working Tuesday until later in the afternoon.
The installation of the cellphone antenna violates local, state and federal law, says Progreso Hoy, but on Aug. 3, the city still granted a license endorsed by the director of public works.
The neighbors have now filed a complaint with the state attorney’s office as well as the state human rights commission.
Earlier reports linked the antenna to a Boston-based firm called American Tower Co., but when Yucatán Expat Life reached them for comment, they denied any connection to the project.
The company’s media office, likewise, called Progreso Hoy, which then revised its story. Apparently, residents were in error when they cited ATC in an earlier denunciation. ATC does similar work in other parts of the country.
Progreso’s former public works director, Carlos Gómez Ordóñez, said that the project still lacks the necessary permits and a manager responsible for oversight. The tower’s base was installed clandestinely, at night, creating a safety concern.
The neighbors said that they will continue to pursue legal channels to prevent the antenna tower from being completed.
Source: Progreso Hoy
