Sedetus Head Criticizes ‘Misinterpretation’ in Colosio Titling Process

Playa del Carmen, Mexico — José Alberto Alonso Ovando, the head of the Secretariat of Territorial and Sustainable Urban Development (Sedetus), asserted that there is a "misinterpretation" of the rules of the Institute for Sustainable Land (Insus) by residents of the Colonia Colosio who are unwilling to pay for their land titles.

During an interview while visiting this municipality, the state official commented that authorities initially identified people in this neighborhood living in precarious situations, enrolling them in a program so they would not have to pay for their titling.

He stated that a second block of housing exists, where people have subsistence-level businesses, who were charged five thousand pesos for their titling. Furthermore, there is a series of lots, considered commercial or tourist-oriented, where the Insus is required by law to request an appraisal from the National Institute of Administration and Custody of National Assets (Indaabin) to determine the cost of their titling.

"That is where the dissatisfaction lies, because they have a business or rent a space and do not want to pay," the official said, noting that there are also those who own three or four properties, or who are involved in a legal dispute, either as owners or possessors.

In this process, the Insus is the entity carrying out this procedure, and Sedetus figures only as a cooperating agency, as this federal dependency has limited personnel to address pending matters throughout the Yucatán Peninsula.

To date, the regularization of this neighborhood is 50% complete, and a batch of 188 deeds is scheduled to arrive for delivery next week. Two other batches are in process, one of 300 in Mexico City and one of 200 in the local offices.