Mayan Train Project Hit by 2 Billion Pesos Irregularities

The Federal Audit Office (ASF) has identified financial irregularities in the Mayan Train project, a significant undertaking by the National Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur). The discrepancies total an alarming 2,592,989,318 pesos, as revealed in the third delivery of the Public Account of 2023.

The ASF report, submitted to the Chamber of Deputies, indicates that 42% of the total amount in question relates to the construction of Section 1 of the Mayan Train. This section, which stretches from Palenque to Escárcega across the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, and Campeche, showed a 115% increase in the contracted amount. The report also noted overpayments to contractors and inflated costs for materials and labor, leading to 1.098 billion pesos that require further clarification.

Section 4 of the project, running from Izamal, Yucatán, to Cancún, in Quintana Roo, also showed irregularities. The ASF determined that an additional 422.6 million pesos need clarification for this section. Notably, the construction of hotels was not included in the 2022 Mayan Train project's Cost-Benefit Analysis. Despite this, Fonatur entered into an agreement with the Secretariat of National Defense for the construction of a hotel in Chichén Itzá, Yucatán.

Further financial discrepancies were discovered in relation to the construction of drainage systems smaller than those specified in the original contract, and penalties were not applied for deficiencies in the quality of highway pavement.

Section 5 of the Mayan Train, which runs from Cancún to Playa del Carmen in Quintana Roo, was also found to have overpayments. The ASF reported an excess of 15 million pesos in the performance of monthly supervision reports for sections 5 Norte, Section 6 and Section 7, due to the application of a higher daily wage factor per month than what is legally established.