|
| Puerto Vallarta | | November
24th to 30th, 2002 | NOTICE FROM THE
CONSULAR AGENCY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Dear
Fellow Americans, In the aftermath of Hurricane Kenna,
earthquakes and health related issues in our community, the Department of State
plays an important part in the protection of Americans overseas. This responsibility
includes the dissemination to Americans of information on matters of safety and
security. The U.S. Consular Agency in Puerto Vallarta would like to upgrade its
means of communications with the American community it serves by developing a
sound warden program. Wardens are unpaid volunteers recruited from the local American
community to represent geographic regions or functional groups. They disseminate
announcements provided by the Department of State. American citizens who possess
a phone, fax, e-mail, web sites, ham radio or other means of communication are
invited to participate. If you reside in Puerto Vallarta as far south as El Tuito
in Jalisco, and Bahía de Banderas as far north as San Francisco ("San
Pancho") in Nayarit and would like to be invited to a meeting to establish
warden regions, please e-mail me at: amconpv@prodigy.net.mx Also,
as a part of the Consular Agency's effort to inform U.S. citizens residing abroad
of the consular services available to them, we wish to inform you about registration
and the advantages it may afford you. By registering at
a Foreign Service post, you make your citizenship of record. This is helpful if
it becomes necessary for us to contact you, particularly in emergency situations.
It is also helpful if we find it necessary or desirable to communicate with you
on matters which might be of interest to you. Presenting evidence of U.S. citizenship
and completing a simple form is all you need to do to register. You are under
no obligation to do so. The Privacy Act protects all registration records. No
information in registration records can be released except in compliance with
that Act. We invite you to consider the advantages of
registration and will be pleased to answer any pertinent questions you may have.
Please feel free to e-mail us or call anytime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Monday
to Friday at 222-0069 or 223-0074. Our office is located on the main square, at
160 Zaragoza, Suite 18. In the meantime, we wish you all
a most Happy Thanksgiving! Sincerely,
Kelly Trainor
- Consular Agent
The Buses and the
Businesses Downtown After Hurricane Kenna, bus traffic
was prohibited downtown. In a survey conducted among
business owners and employees during the second week of November, there was a
unanimous opinion that buses should be allowed back into the downtown core. Employees
complained about having to walk to work from Hidalgo Park or the Emiliano Zapata
neighborhood, while owners stated that they would agree to a reduced number of
vehicles. One business owner with 30 years on Morelos St. acknowledged that public
transportation in the center was indeed necessary, but that the number of units
should be reduced even more drastically. He criticized the fact that the unions
had ignored the agreement they had made to cut the number of buses in town by
half last June. The buses returned, but they did so while the reconstruction work
on the Malecon was still going on, thus causing major traffic jams. In
a new survey conducted last week, business owners changed their tune and began
voicing their complaints - sales had plummeted because the buses scared away the
tourists with their noise and constant racing, and their incontrollable numbers. One
restaurant owner who has been living in Vallarta for 46 years complained that
many of the municipal government's actions affect tourism negatively, especially
the buses that result in various other problems such as visual pollution, noise
and traffic jams. She added that her customers told her they prefer not to go
into the center nowadays, and that the situation at night is very sad as there
are no lights and no parking spaces. "All of us restaurant owners are complaining.
They are killing the center." With regard to the surveys where most of the
people asked that the buses be allowed back into the area, she commented, "They
are employees, but they don't pay the expenses. Let's see what they do when we,
their bosses, can no longer pay even the rent because the tourists have been scared
away. Tourists come to relax, not to get into chaos." Another
interviewee said, "With all the noise, the pollution, the bottlenecks going
from 31 de Octubre St. all the way to Agustin Rodriguez, it's not feasible for
the buses to come in… Anyone can walk the 800 meters from the Rosita Hotel
to the bridge… and it's good for the health." He also added, "I
don't know why the authorities have always been afraid of the unions… that
has been the problem." Like many others who were interviewed, the gentleman's
brother said that they should use mini-buses, or turn the whole thing into a pedestrian
mall, something that would revitalize business. A teacher
from the "20 de Noviembre" elementary school in the center said, "There's
enough traffic as it is, and the buses are empty… four or five from the same
company one after the other, that makes no sense!" The
owner of a jewelry shop on the Malecon said, "One day I decided to count
the buses. From 7 to 8 in the morning, 134 buses passed by, most of them empty."
She complained about the noise, the pollution and the races they hold between
them. "If there is traffic or a car is unloading something, or a taxi is
letting off some passengers, they honk, very loudly, and that gives a very bad
image." All those interviewed complained that the
reconstruction work is going very slow, and warned that unless they work around
the clock, it will not be ready by the Christmas holiday period. Representatives
of the mini-bus company complained that the restriction to 50% of the fleet is
unfair to them in particular because the method is based on allowing odd-numbered
buses into the center on odd-numbered days and even-numbered ones on even-numbered
days while their fleet has even-numbered buses (26) than odd-numbered ones (19). Salvador
Galeano, former secretary general of the bus drivers' union, stated that the report
on the results of the study conducted by the State Department of Roads and Transportation
a year ago still has not been handed over. The purpose of the study that cost
$432,000. pesos paid by the municipal government and the bus companies themselves
was to establish the real transportation needs in this town. According to the
former secretary general, the delay is due to the fact that it would pose a risk
to the business of illegal permits going on among the owners of the various bus
companies. More than 100 units are circulating without license plates and some
don't even have permits. The president of one of the unions has managed to introduce
50 new buses into the fleet over the last two years, and none of them have license
plates yet. By Wednesday of last week, an agreement was
reached wherein only 12 buses would be allowed into the downtown core. These would
service the passengers of the three bus companies whose vehicles would let them
off at Hidalgo Park.
Cornerstone Laid
for Animal Shelter The municipal authorities have
designated the location to be used for the construction of Puerto Vallarta's first
animal shelter. The cornerstone was laid in a ceremony held last week. The
building will cost approximately $2 Million pesos in total and is scheduled to
open in June of next year. It will include facilities to give shelter to some
200 wild and street animals as well as marine ones. Geographer
Rigoberto Cisneros, head of the municipal Department of Ecology stated that this
has occurred in response to the town's problem with animal control and management.
Primarily, the goal is to have the facilities needed to deal with the proliferation
of domestic animals. The plans for the 1,500 sq. m. building
(15,000 sq. ft.) include 24 separate areas such as an information desk, three
consultation rooms, a service area, one for domestic animals, another for wild
animals, cages, a quarantine area, another for adoptions, etc. Sr.
Cisneros mentioned the case of a female ocelot spotted in the vicinity of Vallarta.
This is an endangered species and a very important reason to have such a shelter.
One reporter present at the ceremony asked, "What is an ocelot? A sort of
bear?"
Distinctive Certification
to Café des Artistes In a ceremony held prior
to the Gourmet Festival, the Distinctive "H" Certification was awarded
to the Café des Artistes restaurant and the Presidente Intercontinental
Hotel. This one-year certification signifies that both establishments have satisfied
all the requirements set by the official F-605-2000 Standards of Mexico. Establishments
who seek this distinction do so on a voluntary basis. Café des Artistes
has received it since the year 2000. The Distinctive "H" was first introduced
in Mexico back in 1988, in line with its equivalent in Canada and the United States,
and in accordance with the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO). It
is awarded to providers who handle food and beverages at the highest levels of
hygiene. These establishments are subject to the verification of their operations
from the moment of purchase and reception of the goods, through their storage,
thawing procedures, cooking, conservation and final service.
Street
Vendors to Be Relocated? Beatriz Martinez, head of
Puerto Vallarta's Department of Permits and Regulations, stated that apart from
giving the Malecon a new look, the renovation of this tourist attraction will
give her department the chance to put a semblance of order to all the semi-fixed
stands and the street vendors that work around there. As of last week, the 4 vendors
and 9 artists who were working that area had been relocated to the Lazaro Cardenas
park but no one could agree on whether they should remain there or not. According
to Srita. Martinez, approximately 25 painters and vendors with semi-fixed stands
who usually function in the Aquiles Serdan park could be relocated near Banco
Serfin, (located next to the "Once Upon A Time…" ice cream shop),
behind the DIF parking lot once the reconstruction of the Malecon will be completed. She
also stated that since the hurricane, approximately 80 illegal fixed and semi-fixed
stands have been detected within the municipal and the Federal Maritime zones.
"Many people took advantage of the situation to say that they already held
permits to operate." Consequently, the lady warned
of much stricter surveillance and inspection to ensure that those that have no
permits will be closed down. Archives
by date | 
Current
Weather Report
