By José Antonio Perez
Following a long process to resolve legal issues that had paralyzed the cruise ship Home Port project in Puerto Peñasco, conditions are such to allow for renewal and continued work on construction, announced Antonio Berumen Preciado, Coordinator of the State Office on Tourism Promotion (COFETUR).
Therefore, detailed Berumen, an investment of 300 million pesos is being considered within the 2017 budget, which will be in addition to the 500 million pesos already been put into the project.
He indicated Sonora Governor Claudia Pavlovich Arellano visited Mexico City in the Fall to seek additional resources for the important project. Federal representatives are also doing their part, and the Ministry of the Treasury, José Antonio Meade, is aware of the strategic plan.
Berumen furthered the hope is for 300 million pesos to be assigned to continued work on the Home Port in the 2017 budget so that operations may begin in Puerto Peñasco by 2018.
The COFETUR Coordinator detailed, without discarding the possibility of large cruise ships, activities could begin with smaller tourism vessels with 100 to 300 aboard that would depart from Puerto Peñasco and travel to other ports along the Sea of Cortez.
The Coordinator for State Tourism Promotion stated they first had to work on correcting any of the past, which led to delays in federal investment. The goal is to reactivate work on the Home Port as soon as possible, as this is one of their priorities.
He detailed problems from the 2013 period had been detected, which were not resolved by the prior state administration. From 2013 -2014, 490 million pesos provided by the federation were put into the project and now, once legal issues are resolved, they expect an additional 300 million pesos to be put into the work to be able to conclude in 2018.
Berumen Preciado emphasized the Home Port is one of the numerous projects that are fundamental to Sonora that they will continue to promote.
It is worth recalling formal work on the Puerto Peñasco cruise ship Home Port began on December 10, 2013. The project itself plans for a breakwater jetty, terminal, and unloading dock. The initial goal had been to complete the first phase in 2014 in order to receive visitors by mid-2015.