Perfect Day Project Stalled by Urban Plan Delays in Costa Maya

CHETUMAL, MX — Due to delays in approving the Urban Development Program (PDU) for both Chetumal and Mahahual, the president of the Municipal Planning Citizens’ Council, Jaime Aguilar Cheluja, acknowledged that it is currently unknown whether the business group Royal Caribbean has already submitted its Environmental Impact Statement (MIA) to begin the construction process for its Perfect Day project.

He explained that investors, as part of construction processes, must apply to various state and municipal authorities for their environmental permits and the MIA, so that the qualifying authority can carry out the corresponding verification processes.

“Those familiar with these matters know that when a promoter submits its MIA, the qualifying authority must review the current regulatory instrument, and that is where we do not know if they have already submitted the Environmental Impact Statement for the corresponding authority to conduct the verification, issue a favorable resolution, and allow them to begin. The latest information we had was that Royal Caribbean had not yet submitted its MIA for review,” he detailed.

Aguilar Cheluja insisted that the PDU approval process is bogged down because personnel from the Secretariat of Territorial, Urban, and Sustainable Development (Sedetus) “did their own thing and presented a document, as the responsible entity, that was not relevant, which has delayed the entire process.”

He recalled that Sedetus’s technical process concluded in December 2024, which allowed the citizen consultation for the PDU to be carried out from September to December 2025, and in the case of Chetumal, a few months later. Once the process concluded, some observations were made and “the Citizens’ Planning Council is awaiting a response; but if no negative response is given, then a negative fiction applies.”

“We continue to wait and trust that the observations will be taken into account. We trust that, in the end, the PDU, which is currently under review at Sedetus, will be finalized as the municipality’s residents truly need it,” he concluded.