Got Sand?

[Amsel]

Mexico shuts Cancun beach, alleges sand was stolen - Yahoo! News

MEXICO CITY – Surprised tourists found their little piece of Cancun beach paradise ringed by crime-scene tape and gun-toting sailors on Thursday.

Environmental enforcement officers backed by Mexican navy personnel closed off hundreds of feet (dozens of meters) of powder-white coastline in front of a hotel accused of illegally accumulating sand on its beach.

Mexico spent $19 million to replace Cancun beaches washed away by Hurricane Wilma in 2005. But much of the sand pumped from the sea floor has since washed away, leading some property owners to build breakwaters in a bid to retain sand. The practice often merely shifts sand loss to beaches below the breakwaters
"Today we made the decision to close this stretch of ill-gotten, illegally accumulated sand," said Patricio Patron, Mexico's attorney general for environmental protection. "This hotel was telling its tourists: 'Come here, I have sand ... the other hotels don't, because I stole it.'"

 

[RabidAlien]

 

[vikingBerserker]

 

[Doughboy]

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

 

[Catch22]

I wonder if the hotel was also pumping air away from the other hotels? Then they'd be saying 'Come here, I have air ... the other hotels don't, because I stole it.'

 

[Gnomey]

 

[Doughboy]

I wonder if the hotel was also pumping air away from the other hotels? Then they'd be saying 'Come here, I have air ... the other hotels don't, because I stole it.'

 

[Wayne Little]

friggin amazing!

 

[wheelsup_cavu]

What they won't think of next to waste money.


Wheels

 

[RabidAlien]

I'd heard about this sort of problem when I was stationed in Hawaii.....people come to these tourist resorts expecting to find pristine white sandy beaches. They dont' want regular sand-colored sand. And since the tourists determine whether you flourish or tank, alot of the resorts would import sand from elsewhere. So, yeah, its believable. Unbelievably believable.

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

Won't the sand wash out from the tide, or rain? Just seems like a waste of money.

 

[RabidAlien]

Yeah, but the income you get from the tourists more than makes up for it. I guess you could write it off as a business expense.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

If that was the only problem Mexico had right now...

 

[Dark Matter]

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

Yeah, but the income you get from the tourists more than makes up for it. I guess you could write it off as a business expense.

Makes sense. I'm just amazed Mexican officials are making a big deal out of it. Like Adler said, that's not the only problem they have.

 

[RabidAlien]

Well, I guess since they're having such trouble with the cartels that they needed a PR victory, and decided to publicize this for all its worth to show that they're actively combating a problem. And the tourist industry affects the whole country, so I guess its a good thing they're doing. Just wish they'd get their act together and, as Adler stated, take care of the real problems.