Cabinet Gives Bus Operators More Than They Requested
Cabinet has given the Belize Bus Association more than it asked for, extending the fuel subsidy beyond the association’s three-month request. Under the new agreement, bus operators will continue receiving two dollars off each gallon until the start of the next fiscal year. But Transport Minister Doctor Louis Zabaneh says the decision did not require Cabinet to return to the drawing board, since most of the terms had already been settled when government approved the first round of assistance several months ago.
Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport
“Conditions have gotten a little better from about almost sixteen dollars to about almost fifteen dollars with the price of diesel and so, but still high. I think that is what motivated Cabinet to give this approval, to go for the next three months period and possibly all the way to March of next year, once the prices don’t fall below twelve dollars per gallon. But the ministry has to give a report every two months on where things are and how the prices are going for Cabinet to be abreast. The first three months, remember it was three dollars. So when prices fell by a dollars that is who we ended up with two dollars and the way the prices work is that every week the operators send in their receipts of purchases they have made, that can be verified with the various gas stations signing on, specific forms we have issued out. The Ministry works that our on an excel sheet and verifies everything and sends the funds to the operators, based on how many gallons they use. The first three months, it was about one point five million, including all the operators.”
Zabaneh Warns Bus Operators over Future Strikes
The government’s fuel subsidy for the Belize Bus Association comes with a warning: taxpayers cannot carry the cost indefinitely. Transport Minister Doctor Louis Zabaneh says the money used to keep fares stable could have funded other critical public services. He also cautions that any future strike by bus operators could force the government to reconsider its support and withdraw intervention where necessary. Here is how he explained it.
Louis Zabaneh
Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport
“The point that we also make is that this is a support from the people of Belize. This is taxpayer’s money and these are funds that could have gone to other things, medicine at the hospital, or scholarship for students and so, we ought not to take it lightly. It is an investment. It is a transfer from the Ministry of Finance, through the Ministry of Transportation, to the bus operators that comes ultimately form the people of Belize. We are always concerned too about commuters, that they have need to go from point A to point B, so that is factored in as well. We also understand the plight of the operators. So, it’s a balance we have had to keep. It is not the case that, for example, if the prices continue to fall and they get around twelve dollars or below and then operators come back and threaten a shutdown, I think it would be quite in order for the government to prepare itself for that and for the ministry to take action on operators who would not be servicing their commuters.”
Minister Zabaneh says the ministry has a database with information about how much fuel each operator uses per week.
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