Central Transit Bus Up in Flames in Belize City  

Chaos erupted at the Pound Yard bus stop early this morning when a Central Transit bus caught fire. The vehicle, which had just arrived from Lord’s Bank, reportedly suffered an electrical failure and burst into flames, right across from a gas station. Despite efforts from bus staff and gas station workers, the fire couldn’t be contained. Thankfully, all fifty passengers made it out safely, and firefighters quickly brought the blaze under control. But this isn’t the first incident involving Central Transit. Just this year, one of their buses overturned, injuring thirty people. Days later, three more buses went up in flames overnight. Now, questions are mounting about whether these buses should even be on the road. We spoke with Chief Transport Officer Leon Gentle about the growing concerns.

 

Leon Gentle, Chief Transport Officer

“What we have done with the operator today in our conversation, in our dialogue is that we’ve set up a site visit for inspection of all the buses that they have within their company and to an extension. We want to do the same for all the bus operators currently running on the public transportation road. So of course, that operation is coming very soon. These buses are checked on an annual basis especially when they go in to do their licensing. And so we do have a certified motor vehicle inspector at each of our stations. And when these buses go in for licensing, they are inspected there. The physical inspections include those of looking at the engine to see where their leaks are, if the engine is in the type of shape that it should be at the standard that we require. And so these electrical fires sometimes are unpredictable. At the same time what we intend to do with all operators is to ensure that they’re holding up their end of the bargain to conduct these maintenance as we go through the year. While we may not be able to do it on a monthly basis, it’s something that we intend to see how we can do quarterly checks. A part of it is also looking to see how we can look at the certification for being on the road, like a road readiness for each one of these types of vehicles. So that is something that we intend to do.”

 

The Ministry of Transport is further calling for the implementation of the National Bus Company, which would facilitate regular maintenance checks for of these vehicles.