Transport Minister: Progress Outweighs Early Problems

Belize’s new National Bus Company is only a month in, and while the rollout hasn’t been smooth, Transport Minister Louis Zabaneh says the system is finally starting to take shape. Bringing several private operators under one umbrella was always going to be messy, and the early days proved it, from uneasy staff transitions to mechanical hiccups with old buses the company inherited. But Zabaneh says these are normal startup pains. Despite skepticism and a few rough patches, the buses are running, the routes are stabilizing, and the team is learning fast. He says the real story isn’t the bumps, it’s the progress. Here’s more from the transport minister.

 

Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport

“Yeah, it’s been a little bumpy in some places, if I could use that term, no pun intended. And what we’ve had is really I think two main areas of challenge One is that you’re getting 17 different cultures, if you will, coming together. So that has taken some time. We’ve had our people in the HR department of the boss company working over time. To assure our people because, in something new like that, you would not be surprised that there is some anxiety. The anxiety first had to do with will we get paid in the same way we used to get paid? And that has we’ve had now I think three weekly payrolls have already taken place. And so with all of that it’s iron out ironing out the kinks, making sure that people’s account numbers match up and all of that. So I think that’s one side. The other one is that now we’ve, we’re taking on a lot of bosses from different operators who have maintained their bosses in different ways. And so that has been a challenge. So you would’ve seen continuance of breakdowns on the highways for which of course we are working very hard to address those issues. So all in all, I think that after almost four weeks now, I would say that the National Bus Company is moving forward.”

 

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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