And when it comes to how the ministry has been sourcing parts for its transport fleet, reports tell us that the ministry has been exclusively using a Belmopan-based company named Special Effects.
But Williams denies that; he says when they purchase anything, they get the standard quotations from three different companies, and in most cases, Special Effects happens to be the cheapest:
Reporter
"We have been reliably informed that the transport department under your direction, sources say that spare parts are being sourced strictly from special effects in Belmopan, not other companies like Westtract. Would you be able to comment on that?"
Chester Williams, CEO - Ministry of Transport
"Again, I believe that when you deal with public funds, and Channel 7 is a master of this, exposing how the government has been wasting money, paying too much for things that they could procure at a less value. My instructions to my people is that when they're going to get parts, they're going to get invoices from three different locations. They would normally get from Westtract, they get from Special Effects, and sometimes they get from Caribbean Motors. I will look at the one that is more cheaper, and I will direct that they get it from the cheaper one. So, if we are getting parts from Special Effects, it simply means that it's because the parts there are cheaper, and sometimes the parts are the same. So, my interest is to make sure I save the government funds, and do not spend it unreasonably for things that we can get cheaper at other locations. And I'm sure that your news director would be extremely happy to see that we're not squandering public funds."
Reporter
"It wouldn't be that all the parts are coming from one, just Special Effects?"
Chester Williams, CEO - Ministry of Transport
"That's not true. We have also procured parts from Westtract. We have also gotten parts from Belize Diesel, Caribbean Motors. We have also got from Belize Estate. So, it's not true to say that we only get from Special Effects. That's not true. No."
