Opposition Says Bus Fare Increase Hits Commuters Hard

As commuters brace for higher bus fares, the Opposition is warning that working Belizeans are being pushed even further. UDP Queen Square Area Representative Godwin Haylock is speaking out against the newly approved fare increase, saying it piles more pressure onto families already struggling with rising fuel prices and daily expenses. At a press conference today, Haylock accused the Briceño administration of showing little compassion, and offering no real solutions, for the thousands of Belizeans who depend on public transportation just to get to work and back home each day.

 

Godwin Haylock, Area Representative, Queen Square

“Brace yourself my fellow Belizeans, because first it was the increase in the price of fuel, but by Friday there will be increase in bus fares, leaving your pockets empty. This PUP government, it is obvious, they have no solution to the fuel crisis. More than that, they have no mercy on the working class people who have to get up on that bus every single day and go back and forth to work. It is anticipated that the cost of bus fares from Belize City to Belmopan will increase by a whopping two dollars. Man this government needs lashing. Let us take for example the public servant starting his or her career in Belmopan, making less than fifteen hundred dollars monthly. That is just over three hundred dollars per week as your take home salary. They will have to pay forty to fifty dollars per week on bus fares. That is just one way. If they go and come that is a hundred dollars per week on bus fares and depending on the class you choose.”

 

Haylock says rising fuel costs may hit bus operators first, but workers will pay the real price through higher fares. He’s calling on the Briceño administration to ease the burden by cutting fuel taxes.

 

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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