Majahual Taxi Drivers Protest Fees and Monopoly

CHETUMAL — Taxi drivers in Majahual have for months been calling for intervention from the State and Federal governments to halt not only the monopoly on tourist transport at the Costa Maya pier but also the excessive fees they are charged for the use of parking at the terminal and at archaeological sites.

According to the secretary general of the union, Juan Manuel Lanz, this is a problem that has not been resolved even with the arrival of Royal Caribbean, which now controls and administers the maritime terminal. Although the matter has been raised with company executives and authorities, there appears to be a lack of interest in putting an end to the situation, which negatively impacts tourism and the drivers.

“It is becoming a bit tiresome, but we will not lower our guard. We are waiting for the competent authority to help us and resolve this; however, there has been no sign of them. The Secretariat of Tourism has not appeared; it has been four months without a response. No one has come to Majahual, and they have not paid us any attention. We feel ignored,” Lanz stated. “They are charging us a barbaric amount. We need the intervention of the state government and the federal government because it is not possible that they allow the interests of the inhabitants of Majahual to be trampled.”

He mentioned that they had been promised the establishment of dialogue tables, but to date, not a single meeting has been scheduled to which they have been summoned to address the issue. This leads them to believe there is an intention to continue supporting the company Maya Conecctions, which, he asserted, has caused this entire conflict in its effort to control transport in the Costa Maya.

He explained that Maya Conecctions manages access to tourist sites and holds exclusivity, to the point of convincing ejidatarios (communal landowners) to increase the fees for passing through their lands. This is stifling competition and driving up costs for visitors, preventing independent drivers from entering freely.

“They charge us 7 dollars per person for parking, and we are separately paying 4 dollars per vehicle, and this is because the company, whose legal name is Maya Conecctions, pressures the ejidatarios and makes them charge us these prices,” Lanz said. “This is damaging all the taxi drivers and all the tour operators, and they are being protected there to create these types of conflicts. Right there, in their own house, Royal Caribbean has this company creating a serious problem, and we have already told the new president, Ari Adler, who promised to review why the agreement was signed and if it is possible to terminate it.”

As a result, he stated that if the current posture continues, they will propose diverting tourism to other destinations and do not rule out opening a new access route to avoid the toll the ejidatarios demand on behalf of the company.