Ask anyone who takes a bus anywhere in the country and you'll get a laundry list of complaints: there's never any space to sit; when buses do come, they're late; buses are unclean; buses are not roadworthy...and the litany of complaints goes on. But an already bad situation could get worse, because 7NEWS has received reliable reports which tell us that Novelo's the receiver is urging government to get all the interlopers off the road, or else.
Who are those interlopers? In three words: National Transport Limited or in two words, Novelo's brothers. That's an affiliate of Bel-Bus which is a Novelo brothers venture. Bel-Bus has steadily been regaining footing in the transportation market much to the chagrin of Novelo's the receiver. But on October 28, Commissioner of Transport Phillip Brackett told National Transport that its road service permits are expired, and yesterday was their last day to operate legally.
But the truth is, the majority of the busses on the road including many operated by Novelo's the receiver do not have valid permits. With that, National Transport operators ignored the order from the Ministry of Transport, and made their usual western runs starting from Benque at 3:50 this morning. That would lead to a showdown at mile 16 where Police and Transport Departments had set up a roadblock this morning to intercept the buses filled with commuters.
We were there to find out if the National Bus commuters would be forced off the bus and unto the roadside. But we found that the police had quite a different, and even-handed strategy.
Jules VasquezReporting,
The operation went into action at 5:25 am before dawn when this first bus, a Novelo's was stopped. A few minutes the joint Police/Transport Team pulled over this National Transport Bus. This commuter was frustrated with all the stopping.
Commuter #1,
"We met a Dragon Unit checkpoint on the road and then now we have met another checkpoint on the road. What will they do now? Hold up the buses for how long? People need to reach to work before 6."
But on this day police were on their own timing, each driver whether he drove Novelo's or National was taken into the police station while busses full of passengers waited, wanting to reach Belize City.
Commuter #2,
"Well I start to work at 7 but I have couple things that I do in the morning before arriving at work and this is one of the mornings when I really wanted to get in early. I respect whatever policies they have with the buses and it's traveling but this is inconvenient for a lot of the workers."
On this National Transport bus, Police Inspector Vianney Robinson went as far as to remove the destination sign. And while that was held by transport officers, these commuters took the time to stretch their legs and after the driver got his ticket, he returned to the bus and as the police stood by he was free to leave. This National Transport conductor says his running makes life easier for commuters
Conductor,
"If these buses weren't running they would have tried to jam up everybody in one bus."
Neville Thomas who has a run from Gracie Rock for which he has no permit, says because of the operations his commuters are waiting for him, stranded:.
Neville Thomas,
"Since I don't have a permit, I've been requesting a permit but so far they haven't given it. I got a letter yesterday from Mr. Brackett saying I must stop on the way to Hattieville so that's why I am out here this morning. Now the people in Rockville are expecting me, the people right there are expecting me for a 6 o'clock run and I can't move because they are waiting for me."
And as they waited, police pulled him over and put him through the same drill, in the police station.
Neville Thomas,
"Mr. Williams explained to me that I can't operate this morning. I wanted to just pick up the people that I normally pick up every morning and give them a free ride and explain to them that I have to stop operating my service starting tomorrow but they don't even want me to do that so I just have to go empty."
Jules Vasquez,
And they people are waiting for you there.
Neville Thomas,
"They are waiting for me all the way from Rockville. In fact right now is when I am supposed to be leaving Rockville and they don't even know I can't run."
As Thomas got back onto his bus to go park it in the city, he says the problem is much bigger than his little run.
Neville Thomas,
"If they had enough buses operating on schedule, consistently, this wouldn't be a problem. There are two big companies, the Novelo brothers and the receivership and they fighting from Belize City to Benque. Sometimes the buses come and there are four people on it, they don't even think about trying to put a bus where the people need it. They are thinking about fighting with each other for turf. People are suffering. They need to get to work."
They need to get to work, but on this day, Thomas had no work at all. He says he'll try to get back on the road soon, even if it means going to Belmopan to apply for a road service permit.
At the end of the operation, 28 summons were issued to busses of all colors and affiliations including Novelo's and National Transport.
