Temozón, Yucatan — President Andrés Manuel López and Gov. Mauricio Vila Dosal will promote the construction of a honey distribution center, which will also work with a processor to pack and package “so that we not only sell the honey at a good price, but also a finished product, which can leave a greater economic benefit for all our beekeepers,” according to Vila Dosal.
The collection center is estimated to benefit 12,500 Yucatecan beekeepers.
The announcement was made on the second and final day of AMLO’s working tour of Yucatan on Saturday.
Vila said that when the project was proposed to Lopez Obrador, funds had already been set aside so that construction can begin at the beginning of 2020.
López Obrador said the concept will mitigate the loss of a price guarantee for honey. A similar project is also proposed in Campeche and Quintana Roo.
Later he indicated that he has a very good relationship with the governor of Yucatan.
“We get along well because I consider him a responsible, honest man, who defends the interests of the Yucatecan people,” said AMLO. “He is not there thinking about doing business on how they stay with the beaches, as it was before, having their ranches, their mansions. They are honest people, that’s why we get along and we will work together.”
During the announcement, Rosalía Pool Paat, a community authority in Chemax, asked Lopez Obrador for decent housing, respect for the environment of indigenous communities, health centers, schools and a network of drinking water for families.
She also asked to take into account the productive vocation that “we have been managing in important activities such as honey production, tourism and agricultural and livestock production, which we carry out with very little support.”
“We want participation and consultation in relation to the Mayan Train and that we have a fair and equitable benefit for all,” she said.
Vila Dosal admitted that the state is burdened with a high poverty rate.
“One of the main problems we have here in Yucatan is the issue of poverty. Forty percent of Yucatecans live in poverty,” said the governor. “If we remove Merida and only measure the municipalities in the interior of the state, we are talking about 55 percent of the people … in conditions of poverty.”
Source: La Jornada Maya
