According to a survey by local firm Consulta Mitofsky which results were recently revealed, most Mexicans wanted the construction of the new Mexico City airport to continue, in oppostition to Andrés Manuel López Obrador proposal of a new airport in Santa Lucía.
During the campaign that led him to win the presidential election, AMLO said he would cancel the construction works of the new airport, valued at $13.3 billion USD, due to its high cost and alleged corruption.
Instead, AMLO proposed building two runways at an air base adjacent to the Mexican capital and maintaining the current air terminal, which is way beyond the top of its capacity.
However, after winning the July 1 elections, he proposed a binding consultation at the end of October so that the people of Mexico could decide the future of the project.
According to the Mitofsky survey, carried out between September 7 and 9 2018:
42% of the respondents said they were in favor of continuing with the works of the new airport.
19.4% supported AMLO’s proposal to cancel the mega-work, make two runways in St. Lucia, and keep the current air terminal.
38.6% of respondents disagreed with any of the options.
(The Consulta Mitofsky survey was conducted on 1,000 people in their homes and had a margin of error of +/- 3.1%).
Recently, a study conducted by the College of Engineers of Mexico, requested by AMLO itself, concluded that the most viable option is to continue with the construction of the new airport since the option of Santa Lucia is “unattractive and represents a high risk.”
However, the AMLO administration carried out polls of their own, in coordination with a foundation called Fundación Arturo Rosenblueth, which was chosen by the MORENA party in a unilateral way, and that was in charge of organizing and processing the polls in different parts of the country.
It is worth mentioning that the polls were conducted in remote rural areas, and that most of the people that voted against the construction of the new airport, have never flown in an airplane, and are not regular users of the Mexico City (or any other) airport.
The Mazatlan Post Newsroom
