MEXICO CITY (AP) – Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Sunday that the military will lead the Mayan train project and several airports and use any profits to fund military pensions.
The military is already overseeing the construction of some parts of the controversial project, while private companies are building the rest.
But López Obrador said on Sunday that “so there is no temptation to privatize the $ 6.8 billion project,” the military will operate it once it is built. The proceeds from this – and a number of airports, some of which are being built by the military – will be used for pensions for soldiers and sailors.
López Obrador has already given the military more duties than any other recent Mexican president, with military personnel doing everything from building airports to transporting medicine and running tree nurseries. López Obrador said the military is one of the most trustworthy and honest institutions in the country.
In July, López Obrador opened construction on the train, a pet project of his that would run about 1,000 miles in a rugged loop around the Yucatan.
The train aims to connect Caribbean beach resorts with the peninsula’s interior, with largely indigenous populations and ruin sites, in an effort to stimulate economic development around the 15 stations.
The government says it will cost a whopping $ 6.8 billion, but others say it will be much more.
Critics have said that the train will harm the environment and Mayan communities along the way, and that good environmental impacts and feasibility studies have not been conducted.