Ministry of Transport Meets With Rural Bus Operators

The Ministry of Transportation today held its first formal meeting with representatives from Belize’s Rural Public Transport Sector in Belmopan at the Ministry of Sustainable Development’s conference room.  At that meeting, Minister Dr. Louis Zabaneh and Chief Executive Officer Chester Williams met with rural operators to discuss ongoing challenges within the sector and the way forward.  Officials also highlighted some of the developments taking place under the formation of the National Bus Company, while holding discussions on improving standards and reliability along rural bus routes.

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport:  “We are now meeting with the village operators. It’s been a year since we have been engaged with the highway operators and we had asked them to kindly be patient with us and we now have the first meeting with all of them from across the country to discuss the issues that are affecting them and in particular for us to get their ideas on how we could modernize that sector of the bus industry. As in the highway sector that they also have challenges of excessive competition on their roads. They have unique settings because many of their roads that they traverse are in poor condition. So as you heard today, they shared some of that with us. But basically it’s now to find out how we’re going to move forward after having done that on the highway system. What are the kinds of ideas? Some of them suggested that perhaps we could look at company structure where they could now become shareholders and benefit from economies of scale, lower costs and that sort of thing.”

Among the key concerns raised by operators was the longstanding issue of multiple bus lines competing on the same routes at the same time, a situation that rural operators say continues to affect profitability and scheduling. Minister Zabaneh acknowledged the concern, noting that the problem has existed for more than two decades and remains one of the major issues facing the transport sector.

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport: “We have had sadly since the mid-2000s after the situation with the consolidation of the Novelo company. Where at that point in time before that collapse occurred the consolidation had ended up with the Novelo group and then with James Bus Line. After that, when the DFC Fiasco, if you will, happened ministers of transport and the transport department gave out permits to persons who were asking for these road service permits across the country in a manner that is clearly not in the best interest of commuters because you end up having a lot of competition with all these road service permits being issued. So many times it was because some political favor was being done or whatever the case may be and there was not a proper system in place rationalizing public interest because clearly that’s what we ended up with and why we had to come with the solutions that we’re now engaged in with the National Bus Company on the highways and now seeking solutions for the village run operators.”

Also attending today’s meeting was President of the Belize Bus Association, Philip Jones. Earlier this month, the BBA staged protests at several locations across the country, including the Tower Hill Bridge in Orange Walk, amid concerns over transport policies and operating conditions.  Following today’s discussions, Jones described the meeting as productive and expressed hope that continued dialogue between operators and the Ministry would help address issues affecting the industry.

Philip Jones, Belize Bus Association: “It was a very productive meeting whereby the operators was informed that how we can improve and better the service and there’s help that can be afforded by either us forming an association or a company and the information shared was very receptive by the members and we’re looking forward to see how we can improve the rural area and the villages at this time.” 

Today’s consultation marked the first official meeting between the Ministry of Transport and the Rural Public Transport Sector, with additional consultations expected to take place throughout the year./