At present, there is still absolute disorder in terms of urban development in Puerto Vallarta, with many of the construction permits inherited by the current administration under suspicion of corruption, which have a strong impact on the infrastructure of city services, such as drainage, water, and roads.
In the opinion of the hotel businesswoman María José Zorrilla, the current administration has been dealt a very difficult hand in urban planning, since an absolute disorder prevails with the permits that were given and that are already underway.
She said, “It is very difficult to counteract that inertia, and stop what is being done.”
She hopes that the municipal authorities have enough strength to put a stop to what should be stopped, because the problems are already clear, such as the city’s capacity to provide drainage, electricity, and water services.
Permits have been issued for years with nothing being done to upgrade infrastructure that is not visible, such as drainage, because, politically, it is not very profitable.
José also lamented that many construction permits are suspected of corruption.
“We know that behind each permit there are always some shady things. Many of the officials who started with houses in Vallarta end up with luxury condominiums of 400, 500 thousand dollars. It is inexplicable how they could get them with three years of salary. It would be impossible,” she said.
She added that no one is opposed to development.
“I think that if we all had land, we would also want to build. The problem is how it is built, what permits are given, and how why the rules are violated,” she said.
The problem is that if breaches of the law are tolerated, a negative chain reaction is generated.