Mexican President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador is considering the possibility of having businesspeople, including billionaire Carlos Slim , complete the new Mexico City airport , so taxpayers' money isn't invested into it.
Early in his election campaign, López Obrador , who takes office on December 1st, opposed the USD $13 billion airport, arguing that it had been tainted by corruption and was being built in a geologically complex area that would require costly maintenance.
But he later softened his stance and said he will consult the public on whether or not to finish the airport, which has been under construction on the drained bed of the Texcoco Lake since 2015.
The public survey will last four days, starting from October 25 to October 28. The polls will be installed in 538 municipalities, they will open at 8 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. All the votes will be counted by a civic organization, the Arturo Rosenblueth Foundation .
As a cheaper alternative, he has proposed keeping the current hub, which is more central and converting a military airfield north of the capital into a commercial airport.
In a video posted online, López Obrador said the team responsible for building the new airport was seeking billions of dollars in public money to complete the project. His government could not accept that public expenditure, he said.
But he added “he had information” that Slim , Mexico’s richest person , and other businesspeople were proposing completing the new airport at Texcoco for less money, and without drawing on funds from the government budget.
“That being the case, we could consider the possibility of continuing with construction in Texcoco and not canceling the project,” López Obrador said.
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