Dear Sir.
I would like to remind the readers that we are guests of Mexico, and as such, must respect the laws, no matter what your visa status.
I recently met my new neighbors, an elderly British gentleman and his Mexican girlfriend. He bought and remodeled the house next door to me. There was a beautiful and healthly ficus tree that was decades old in front of his house. As the gentleman was leaving, he mentioned to me that he was going to cut down the tree so he could park his car.
I told him that he would need to apply for permission to cut down the tree.
In good faith, I told him where to go and what to do, and also gave him some alternatives if he wanted space to park his car. He waved me off and said he could do as he pleased because he was owner of the house.
The next morning after our encounter, in the early morning, the tree was illegally cut down.
This is what you can do if you suspect that someone is going to cut down a tree in your neighborhood illegally:
1) Create an account with the Plataforma Nacional de Transparencia online.
Once you have entered the appropriate information on a solicitud, you will receive a folio number via email.
2) Bring the owner’s name, address, phone number, folio number and any other pertinent information or pictures to the Ecologia Department located in the Presidencia in Chapala.
3) The inspectors will then visit the site and contact the owners.
4) The owner will then be fined approximately 8.000 pesos.
5) As restitution, the owner will be obliged to plant several new trees.
To the dismay of my new neighbor, the new trees will be planted on my block.
In closing, I would like to remind readers how lucky we are that Mexico has allowed us to live in this beautiful country. Be a good neighbor, abide by the laws, and be grateful you are here.
Jaime Barbiery
Dear Sir,
The situation with trash collection has a lot of us wondering what is going on. I live in an established fraccionamiento and my next door neighbor doesn’t. I have been told that my trash collection fee will be six times greater than last year and they will not take any recyclables. My next-door neighbor will not be charged at all, because his property isn’t in a fraccionamiento.
The new trash company proposed a fee six times greater than last year. We said no. They came back a few weeks later with a verbal proposal indicating that they will charge us three times the previous fee. We said bring us something in writing and we will take it to our membership. Nothing has happened to date.
We want to know what amount was agreed to by the ayuntamiento. I would like the director of Aseo Publico to set a per household fee that applies to all residential properties, regardless of where that property is located.
If Ajijic village gets “free” trash pickup (paid for with their taxes) why don’t all property owners get the same? Or am I wrong? Will all the residents in the Chapala/Ajijic corridor be subjected to a new fee, in addition to their property taxes?
I have been advised to contact Carlos Diaz, director of Aseo Publico, for a meeting, but is he going to meet individually with 20 or 30 fraccionamiento and condo associations to determine what each one will pay? Isn’t there a contract somewhere that spells out the fees to be charged per household? I hope the Guadalajara Reporter will publish an in-depth story to clear up this confusing situation.
Nicholas Hanson, Villa Nova, Ajijic