Twenty-Million-Dollar Bus Gamble Gets Legal Protection

Twenty million dollars in public funds are riding on the National Bus Company, and the government says it is closing the legal loopholes that could put that investment at risk. With the collapse of Novelo’s bus empire still fresh in Belize’s transportation history, the National Assembly approved two measures on Friday to protect NBC’s assigned routes from rival operators. Transport Minister Dr. Louis Zabaneh says unchecked competition helped undermine the last consolidation effort. This time, he insists, stronger laws will keep the new system on track.

 

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport

“One of the ways to see the need and the value of the bill and the two motions is to look back at in 2004 when we had the consolidation, starting in 2002, that led to the Novelo family owning the one consolidated company, plus James Bus Line. There was no framework, legal framework created to protect that arrangement, and what happened after that is, uh, road service permits continued to be issued out by some of the same people who, uh, sold to the consolidation, undermining the company. And that led to two in 2004, to 31 in 2005. So what we – we have learnt a lesson from that. The Belizean people’s investment is going in there, right? With the twenty-odd plus million dollars for buses, et cetera. That’s, that’s representing the people’s investment. And then the operator’s investment, 19.2 or so million dollars, that’s significant investment. So we don’t want that come two months later we have other people getting road service or two years later or next term. So that’s what the, the two motions were with the limited and the exclusive concessions for the Southern Corridor and the Western Corridor.”

 

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