Who Truly Owns and Runs the National Bus Company?

The controversy over who really controls public transportation in Belize is heating up. The spotlight is now squarely on the National Bus Company and the government’s role behind the scenes. Last week, the Belize Bus Association turned up the pressure, accusing Minister of Transport Dr. Louis Zabaneh of operating under a conflict of interest linked to the NBC. With those allegations gaining traction, we put the question directly to the minister during a press conference on Saturday: Who truly owns and runs the National Bus Company? His response follows.

 

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport

“Who we have said it is from day one. The National Bus Company is a public, private partnership between the Government of Belize, operators and not yet, whenever that occurs, institutional investors who may invest in the company. At this point, it is approximately sixty percent owned by the Government of Belize and forty percent owned by operators. At this point, as the ownership stands. I as minister, being that the government is represented in this innovation by the Ministry of Transport, I select the members on the board. The members on the board just to repeat so it is very clear. We have the government members are director Louge who is the chairlady. We have another young lady, Genelle Neal, former Senator Elena Smith and Ms. Miriam Paz, people who are well known in their respective areas and have in fact been very strong unionist. From the operators you have Mr. Sergio Chuc who was the owner of Westline, and Mr. Jamie Williams, the owner of James Bus Line, and Mr. Codd who represents the ten percent, the other ten percent of the small operators. The CEO is Ms. Vanzie, who was one of the owners of Floria.”

 

BBA’s Bus Fare Claims Collide with Ministry Data

 

Now, here’s where the numbers, and the narrative, start to clash. The Belize Bus Association says its call for higher fares is about keeping pace with the National Bus Company, claiming NBC charges as much as nineteen cents per mile. But the Ministry of Transport is pushing back, flatly denying that any NBC route charges that rate at all. So, who’s right? And what do the figures really show?

 

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport

“NBC’s rate is not nineteen cents per mile. I will ask CEO to kindly elaborate on that point. On the first part of your question, it would have been bordering hypocritical if the NBC had gone and increased their prices right up to the maximum when I as minister had been saying we do not want increase prices. We want to ensure we mitigate the impact of higher prices on our people. Had the NBC done that, what would have been the criticism, you all said you don’t want to increase rates, now look at you increasing rates. And I will use this opportunity to make it clear; there is no check that come from the government to subsidize the NBC expenses. All the NBC’s expenses are paid, because it is a private company. It is just like if government was to send a check with any private business out there, something would be very wrong with that. It would be corruption.”

 

And while the Ministry of Transport insists NBC’s highest fares top out at sixteen cents per mile on its western route, talks of sweeping fare hikes have hit a wall. For now, the conversation has shifted away from raising rates and toward one pressing issue, fuel subsidies.

 

Police Walk Tightrope During Early Morning Highway Protest

 

As bus operators locked down the Phillip Goldson Highway this morning, police found themselves walking a tightrope. With tempers rising and traffic at a standstill, officers shifted into crowd control mode, working to protect the public while allowing the protest to play out without spiraling into confrontation. Uniformed police remained visibly deployed along the highway, focused on keeping the peace and preventing clashes. Authorities have since outlined how they managed the tense standoff, and the strategy behind keeping order during the disruption.

 

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“Certainly it was a matter we were monitoring for quite some time and we had operational efforts in place. We recognize the issue that was raised affects all Belizeans and we want to afford persons who are disgruntled the ability to protest. We have recognized the need to maintain law and order to ensure citizens are able to move and get to their respective location at their liberty. The directive was to ensure to avoid any confrontation and conduct ourselves as professional as possible while the negotiations occur and we are grateful that did happen and we were able to conclude this morning’s operation without any incident. I believe three persons were detained and issued with violation tickets and subsequently released.”

 

Police say the operation concluded without incident.

 

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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