There is a developing bus crisis at this hour as this evening at 5:00, Novelo's, the country's only national bus service, shut down all its Western runs from Belize City. It's a move that was calculated for maximum effect: to strike at the peak hour on the busiest route for commuters. Hundreds of commuters have been left stranded, confused and clueless at the Novelo's main terminal on West Collet Canal in Belize City.
We'll have their stories in a minute, but first we'll try to give you an idea what this is all about. This evening's action is the Novelo's receivership making good on its threat that if the Ministry of Transport does not intervene decisively to eliminate what it calls "sniper runs" by the Novelo brothers' National Bus Service, it will suspend services.
Well today the National Transport Board met and approved 108 road service permits for 82 Belizean bus operators. For Novelo's the receiver that means that the sniper runs will not stop. For the receiver, it's an unacceptable situation, and thus the shutdown.
