“They leave us with shit, stench, and flies”: Kinchil’s battle against a poultry farm in Yucatán
KINCHIL, Yucatán ( Proceso ).– The Kinchil Community Council denounced the poultry company CRÍO for destroying the foundations of Kolotso , “the place where the turkey sings,” which are part of the Tzemé Mayan archaeological zone, the ancient western capital of Yucatán. In response, the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) placed suspension seals on the construction site.
Despite this, on November 3rd, the company's personnel were caught working on the site with heavy machinery.
On October 17th, the Mayan men and women of the municipality of Kinchil submitted a written complaint to the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) reporting what they described as an ethnocide, that is, the destruction of the Mayan people. A week later, INAH personnel conducted an inspection and confirmed the damage to the archaeological remains.
Ignoring the work stoppage orders, the company continued construction of two modules with six buildings where they would raise thousands of chickens.
“They told us it was shut down, but the machinery is still running. So who are they fooling? The INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History) fooling us, or the company fooling the INAH? What the company is doing is very unfair; while they take the money and line their pockets, it doesn't benefit us at all, it hurts us. All they leave us with is the mess, the stench, and the chicken flies,” denounces Gregoria Dzul, a member of the Kinchil Community Council.
The archaeological area of Tzemé has several Mayan pyramids, and among these constructions, one stands out that was 20 meters high, in addition to others of smaller size.
It is estimated that in this area there is a population of 10,000 inhabitants dedicated to the cultivation of cotton, logwood and the collection of wood, as well as beekeeping.
The Kinchil Community Council does not know the exact date when the construction of the new CRÍO modules began, but they realized it because the noise scared away the cattle of one of the farmers.
"We discovered the destruction three weeks ago because the Canul family keeps their livestock nearby, as well as their bees," says another member of the Council, Federico May.
“We are defenders of the land, we saw what they are doing, there were trees, hills and there was a hill that we call Kolotso, the place where the turkey sings,” a little well and they already finished it off,” adds Felix Canul.
Complaint to ProfepaThe damage caused by the construction project of the CRÍO company is not limited to the Mayan structures; there is also environmental damage, they denounce. They estimate that the company deforested six hectares of land to build new modules.
“The first facility that was built affects us. If another one is built, we’ll be left without bees, and without bees, there will be no pollinators; we will be wiped out. Humans depend on bees, but people don’t know that. They think they can do anything with their money, but they can’t. And if they don’t respect the government, how are they going to respect us?” asks Gregoria Dzul.
Modesta Canul is a beekeeper who claims that environmental authorities such as the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) have not carried out any inspection to verify if she has the permits for change of land use.
“The bees are leaving because they don’t like the smell of polluted air; they prefer the smell of flowers. We don’t agree with building more chicken coops because they are polluting our air, water, and land,” he explains.
Upon noticing the presence of members of the Kinchil Community Council, CRÍO company personnel requested assistance from the municipal police. The officers arrived and questioned the Mayan men and women about their presence in the area. In response, the council members asked them why they were protecting the company and allowing work to continue, despite a suspension order issued by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
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