Aguakan Executive Faces Court Hearing in Quintana Roo

Paul Andrew Rangel Merkley, director of Aguakan, is set to appear in court on February 6th. Merkley is facing charges of making false statements in a lawsuit against the Quintana Roo government. The allegations relate to the termination of Aguakan's potable water supply contract in four northern counties of the state. Merkley's statements were reportedly crucial in Aguakan's legal efforts to continue providing services despite the contract's termination. The Quintana Roo government's legal team lodged the complaint with the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic. The outcome of the February 6th hearing will determine whether Merkley faces further legal proceedings and potential pretrial detention.

The criminal case against the Aguakan executive began in January 2024. Aguakan had secured a definitive suspension of a decree by the Quintana Roo Congress which terminated Aguakan's water and sewage supply contract in December 2023. This contract had been in place since 1990. The suspension, granted by the Eighth District Court, allowed Aguakan to continue providing services in Benito Juárez (Cancún), Solidaridad (Playa del Carmen), Puerto Morelos, and Isla Mujeres, pending the resolution of the trial.

Decree 195, passed by the Quintana Roo Congress, asserted that Aguakan's contract expired on December 31, 2023. This effectively cancelled a 2014 decree by then-Governor Roberto Borge, who is currently incarcerated, which prematurely extended Aguakan's concession until 2053. Aguakan successfully challenged this decree and secured a provisional suspension, which was definitively ratified on January 22, 2024.

The Quintana Roo government contested this provisional measure, arguing that the contract extension granted by former Governor Borge in 2014 was flawed from the start. When this challenge failed, the Quintana Roo government lodged a complaint against Aguakan with the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic (FGR) for alleged procedural fraud. They claimed that Aguakan used false arguments in their lawsuit to support their case. One such argument was that the Congress lacked the authority to repeal a contract endorsed by the state government and the municipalities. However, opponents argue that municipal law stipulates that any concession exceeding a municipal administration's tenure must be authorized by the Legislative Power through a bidding process, which did not occur in this case.

The decree terminating Aguakan's concession also took into account the results of a public consultation conducted on June 5, 2021. Over 35% of the electorate in the affected municipalities voted in favor of ending the concession contract. The question posed was: "Do you agree that the Aguakan company continues to provide the concessioned service of potable water, sewage, and sanitation?". In Benito Juarez, 69,893 voted "Yes", while 157,759 voted "No", indicating a strong public sentiment against Aguakan's continued service. The participation rate was 36.79 percent.