Rosarito Beach will open a mediation center next month that will allow English-speaking non-Mexican nationals to air complaints against businesses.
Mayor Hugo Torres announced the court Tuesday, which was authorized by Attorney General Rommel Moreno. An opening day for the court has not been set,
but authorities want it up and running by next month. It likely will be located in the Pabellon Grand shopping center. The Spanish name for the
program is Centro de Justicia Alternitiva.
Authorities said most transactions go smoothly, but the center is a step to assist the large (and financially lucrative) English-speaking population
who visit or live in Rosarito Beach.
"We have an estimated 14,000 expatriates who live here and about a million tourists a year," Torres said Tuesday in a news release. "This action by
Attorney General Moreno is a great step in resolving amicably any disagreements between them and local businesses."
Unlike courts where written documents in Spanish are required, complaints at the center can be given orally and in English. If the mediation center
cannot bring the two sides together, the complaint would then move on to traditional Mexican courts.
"This will make it much easier for non-Spanish speakers to have their complaints heard and at no expense," Torres said.
Areas of possible complaint include disagreements over charges, payments or failure to perform agreed upon services. These can involve not only retail
disagreements, but also real estate and professional services.
The center is the latest step by Mayor Torres to burnish the image of Rosarito Beach, damaged by fallout from the ongoing drug war centered in nearby
Tijuana and chronic complaints of corruption among police, other officials and some businesses. Tourism to the area has dropped in the past two years,
with additional bad news coming from the spring's outbreak of H1N1 virus (swine flu) in other parts of Mexico.
Since Torres took office in 2007, Rosarito Beach has created a tourist district police force, a tourist assistance bureau, a tourist police force and
24-hour-a-day ombudsman to deal with complaints.
There's the rub
Dave - 8-23-2009 at 05:06 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by BajaNews
If the mediation center cannot bring the two sides together, the complaint would then move on to traditional Mexican courts.
Like putting lipstick on a pig. Bajahowodd - 8-23-2009 at 05:12 PM
I say give it a chance. The dire economic situation is obviously behind this, and any effort to make the area appear to be more gringo-friendly.DENNIS - 8-23-2009 at 05:14 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by BajaNews
English-speaking non-Mexican nationals
financially lucrative
I'm confused.dianaji - 8-23-2009 at 05:26 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Bajahowodd
I say give it a chance. The dire economic situation is obviously behind this, and any effort to make the area appear to be more gringo-friendly.
thanks for this positive comment. more of this kind of thinking is needed and not such negativity and pessimism.arrowhead - 8-23-2009 at 05:33 PM
Mediation is not the same as ajudication. The mediator does not have the power of the law to force a resolution on the parties.
