It is the old road to the Cortijo, where before, rainwater went to the palm groves and nearby estuary. The president of the Palmar de Aramara Neighborhood Council, Rubén Pérez, said that modernity had caught up with them, and demanded a solution from the authorities.
He said, “We understand that the city has to grow. Vallarta grew very fast. But the planning has not been correct. The authorities have listened to us. They have tried to help us. We began to ask for help when the previous administration was in place. We know that many of the problems that we are dragging along now are (as a result of) permits and concessions that were given by the past government, and the current authority has not been able to solve the problem. They have tried to support as much as they can.
“The neighborhood has been affected, but at the same time it has also been modernized. As you can see, almost all the streets are now concrete. But here the problem is that one of the construction companies put up a small hill, which works as a dam. That is where the water is returned. Supposedly, they installed some pumps to remove the water, but we don’t know if they work. They are not enough. They have not been able to give us an answer, and we are desperate. In our houses, the water reaches up to our ankles, and in some, much higher.”
Alicia Beltrán is one of the main affected. She lives on the corner of Océano Indico and María Montessori, and pointed out that the developers of the Soho towers sought not to be flooded themselves. “They threw the ball here,” she said.
“When it rains, the water always reaches my knees. Now it was a terrible case, and it rose 70 centimeters. I appreciate that they wanted to make the street with the intention that it be less flooding, but it was the opposite, because that dam is there. Right where the sewer is, there it rises,” she said.
Pérez underlined the seriousness of the problem, and the urgency of addressing it, saying, “Previously, the first 10 houses were affected. Right now, it is about a block and a half that are about 15 houses. We clearly see how the water gets stuck in that mound. Nobody has been able to tell us if the pumps are not working, but that elevation of the level of the street or hill was put there by Soho, in theory with the intention that the water would go through the storm drain to the sump that empties into the river, but it does not work or it is not enough. Here the important thing is that we are flooded worse than ever.”