Transport CEO Chester Williams Denies Auto Parts Favoritism

Is one auto parts company getting the inside track at the Ministry of Transport? That question was put directly to CEO Chester Williams today after concerns surfaced over the ministry’s use of Special Effects Performance Auto Parts. Williams flatly denied that the company is a preferred supplier, saying the ministry shops around and chooses the cheapest option. He says Special Effects may offer lower prices on some parts, but the ministry also does business with other auto parts suppliers.

 

Chester Williams, Chief Executive Officer, Ministry of Transport

“My instructions to my people is, when they are going to get parts, they are going to get invoices from three different locations. They normally get from Westrac, Special Effects and Caribbean Motors. I will look at the one that is more cheaper and I will direct that they get it from the cheaper one. So, if we are getting parts from Special Effects it simply means that the parts there is cheaper and sometimes the parts are the same. My interest is to save the government money and ensure I do not spend it unreasonably for things that you can get cheaper at other locations.”

 

Reporter

“So it would not be that all the parts are coming from this specific location?”

 

Chester Williams

“That is not true. We have also procured parts from Westrac. We have gotten parts from Belize Diesel, Caribbean Motors, Belize Estate. So it is not true to say that we only get from Special Effects, that is not true, no.”

 

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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