Transport Overhaul Leaves Terminal Workers Uneasy

The government’s push to create a single national bus company hasn’t even left the station yet, but it’s already running into turbulence, this time from inside the public service. Terminal workers who keep the country’s bus hubs running say they’ve been blindsided. According to the Public Service Union, staff were recently told that once the national system rolls out, their jobs could be on the chopping block. PSU President Dean Flowers claims some workers were even warned to submit resignations by Friday, a message that immediately set off alarms across the labor movement. But the Ministry of Transport is calling foul. In a statement today, the ministry rejected the idea that anyone has been ordered to resign. It says no such directive exists and stresses that the transition to a national bus system must follow the law. Officials also revealed that a four‑month transition period is being proposed and insist that no final decisions about staffing have been made. Still, unions aren’t backing off. They’re gearing up for a fight, arguing that public officers shouldn’t be asked to sacrifice their livelihoods for a restructuring they had no hand in designing. Transport CEO Chester Williams says the ministry is sticking strictly to Belizean law and taking every step to manage the shift responsibly. Here’s how he put it.

 

Chester Williams, CEO, Ministry of Transport

“There is no truth to them telling the terminal workers that they must resign by Friday of this week. What was instructed to them and from what I have gathered from them is that they met with the terminal workers, explained to them what is taking place and gave them the options that are available to them. Now remember that the National Bus Company is going to need employees and will need employees at the terminal as well. And so what we want to do is to make sure that we have a transition period between the first of March and the end of August, whereby those persons who are currently employed at the terminal and even those who are employed at the various bus companies that now form part of the National Bus company.  They will be brought on board with the National bus company and they will have that four month period where they can decide if they want to remain with the company or if for some reason they don’t meet the criteria for employment, then we’ll have to find ways for the terminal workers how are we going to settle with them”

 

Job Uncertainty Shadows National Bus Launch

 

With the National Bus Company set to launch on March first, the spotlight is shifting from policy to people, and specifically, to the terminal workers now caught in the middle of the transition. Even as government promotes a four‑month rollout plan, employees say they’re only now learning how the change could affect their jobs, raising fresh questions about timing and transparency. That concern has fueled union pushback and heightened public scrutiny, so we asked Transport CEO Chester Williams whether this all feels a little last‑minute for the workers involved. Here’s that exchange.

 

Chester Williams, CEO, Ministry of Transport

“It will not lead to any delay because then remember I said that we have the four months transition period, so the law dictates that we must do it within a month time. We are giving it four months, right? So they’re being informed now and then we have the four months period for them to be able to decide their mind on exactly what they want to do, and then we see how we go from there.”

 

Reporter

“And having foreseen that this had to be addressed.”

 

Chester Williams

“I didn’t get you.”

 

Reporter

“Meaning that this is like last minute. Yes. You say you have that transition period of four months, but I. I believe that for those employees, it would’ve been good to have known about this before.”

 

Chester Williams

“But Marisol the talk of the national bus company has been in the in the public domain for almost a year now. And again we could not prematurely see exactly what would happen because we had to wait to ensure that we have all the different companies who are going to form part of the National Bus Company sign on to the National Bus Company. We’re just finalizing that between last week and this week where they’re now signing the subscription to Join on to the National Bus Company. So with them signing on now, we are certain in terms of where we’re going. Hence the reason it is now the appropriate time for us to go to the employees and say to them, this is what is going to happen. And again, we are still well within the ambits of the law, which says one month. We’re giving it four months. I believe that we’re on good footing where that is concerned.”

 

Government Investing $2 Million In Bus Terminals Upgrade

 

As questions linger over how the National Bus Company rollout will affect terminal workers, the government is now pointing to a major investment aimed at strengthening the very infrastructure those employees help operate. Transport C.E.O. Chester Williams says cabinet has approved two million dollars to overhaul the Belize City terminal and another seven hundred thousand for upgrades already underway in Belmopan, long‑term improvements he argues will raise safety standards and boost government’s equity in the new national system. Here’s how he described the upgrades.

 

Chester Williams, CEO, Ministry of Transport

“Spending two million dollars on the Belize City terminal is not a bandaid fix at all. That is extensive repair and retrofitting. The terminal in Belize City, the current terminal is going to be brought to human standards. That’s the reason why we get that amount of money approved. And with the upgrades in the terminal, that increases the government equity in the National Bus Company because remember, as minister have said, what the government is putting into the company are the terminals across the country. So the fact that we are retrofitting these terminals, the cost for them increases. Likewise in Belmopan, putting in seven hundred thousand dollars into Belmopan terminal is not a bandaid fix either. And I wish you would take a visit to the Belmopan terminal to see the upgrade that has been done in the first half of the terminal and report to the Belizean people the comfort and the luxury that you’ll be seeing when you visit the Belmopan terminal. Come tomorrow and see and see the work that is taking place there. It is totally transformed. Look nice. You enter there you don’t want to leave. It’s comfortable and that’s what we want for the terminals.”

 

Williams says those multimillion‑dollar upgrades aren’t cosmetic at all, but part of a long‑term push to make bus terminals safer, more comfortable, and a stronger asset within the new national transit system.

 

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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