Serrano Wins $60,000 Lawsuit Against Belize Transport Board 

Transport Minister Dr. Louis Zabaneh is tonight reacting to the court’s ruling ordering the Belize Transport Board to pay bus operator Hernan Serrano sixty thousand dollars. Serrano, owner of Serrano’s Bus Service, filed the lawsuit in 2023 after the board refused to renew his company’s road service license, claiming he was denied a fair hearing. The court agreed, finding that the Transport Board violated Serrano’s constitutional rights and failed to follow principles of natural justice and procedural fairness. At the time, Rodwell Ferguson was Minister of Transport. We spoke with Dr. Zabaneh, who took over the post after Ferguson, for his reaction to the judgment.

 

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport

“Certainly we respect the court’s decision, and we understand that when that occurred a number of years ago, in fact, a procedure was not followed what should have happened was that the operator. Should have been given an explanation and an opportunity to defend the concerns that the transport board had that was not done. And then the court ruled as it did. So we are ensuring now that the transport board does what it has to do properly because we have so many issues that we have to address. And it’s incumbent upon us and the transport board to make sure that we do the things the right way so that we can try to bring more order within the sector.”