Late, Crowded, Unreliable; Can Belize Finally Fix Its Bus Crisis?

For years, Belizeans have complained about late buses, aging fleets, overcrowding, and unreliable service. More than sixty rural bus operators met with government officials in Belmopan today, turning up the pressure on the future of Belize’s public transportation system. With fuel subsidies approved and fares already adjusted, both the Ministry of Transport and the Belize Bus Association say it’s time to focus on modernization and better service for commuters. Transport Minister Dr. Louis Zabaneh called the meeting a key step in tackling long-standing operator concerns, while the Association’s president said the talks show both sides are aligned on one goal: delivering a better ride for Belizeans.

 

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport

“ 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. We know that as in the highway sector, that they also have challenges of excessive competition on their roads. They have unique settings because many of their high – the 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 gonna move forward after having done that on the highway system.” 

 

Philip Jones, President, Belize Bus Association

“We can see the intention on both parties to improve the service and to better the service for the commuters. And it’s a shared effort on the government and the operators’ part to ensure that the commuters wasn’t being overburdened by the price, hence the reason why the subsidy was given to offset the high cost in increase by the bus operators.  We have a very cordial relationship, and we communicate daily, and we’re grateful for that.”

 

Dr. Louis Zabaneh

“This is the first of a number of meetings. We’re gonna have meetings in the districts and then come back together and make a decision as a sector on how we move forward.”

 

Bus Operators Wait as New Fuel Subsidy System Gets Tweaked

 

Just days after bus fares jumped, government says it’s moving to deliver relief for operators at the pump. C.E.O. Chester Williams thanked operators for their patience as the Transport Ministry fine-tunes a reimbursement portal tied to the new fuel subsidy. The deal followed tense negotiations and a nationwide bus blockade that forced both sides back to the table. Now, officials say they’re double-checking every claim to ensure it matches the agreement before retroactive payments roll out.

 

Chester Williams, CEO, Ministry of Transport

“We have discussed the matter with the president of the BBA, trying to finalize how the submission is going to look like. We have come to that agreement. We have received the first submissions from the bus operators and so it’s just a matter of the team that we assemble at the ministry to go through the verification process. And once that is done, then we will disperse money to the operators. So it’s going well, I must say. We’re grateful to the operators for their patience because they were supposed to receive their first payment this week but that did not occur because we were still working out on the submissions. So next week they should receive their first payment for this week and next week.”

 

Shane Williams

“What’s in place to prevent over-reporting over the amount of fuel used?”

 

Chester Williams

“That’s the reason why we have the check-in system. They submit by four p.m. on Monday and then we pay by Wednesday, Thursday of the same week. So it gives the team at the ministry the time to be able to do the investigation and verify that the submissions are accurate. I must say that in the initial process, each bus operators have submitted an estimated amount of fuel that they consume per month based on the historical data. So if we were to see that for a particular month they go well above that normal figure, then that would raise a red flag. I wouldn’t mind they go below, but if they go above, then that’s an issue.”

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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