And while Novelo's has collapsed, government must now do all it can to make sure that the entire transport industry does not collapse. There are many pressing issues to resolve: first the Atlantic Bank which pulled the financial plug on the receivership is, as we understand it, trying to get back its $16 million and that means it wants to sell the asset. Government is refusing that, but actually cannot afford that refusal, which is to say, it cannot come up with the money to keep Novelo's going. In the middle of all this are 318 employees, jobless 5 days before Christmas. Today Alfonso Noble tracked down the Prime Minister at the BDF Christmas luncheon and asked how he will resolve these many crises.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Well our primary objective now must be to maintain a transport system in place for the public. That's the primary goal we are working on right now and today despite the shutdown by the receivership, I am told that so far, by and large, the other bus companies have filled the gap, by and large. We have to ensure that is maintained. We cannot have any disruption in the public transportation system. In the long term of course we'll have to work our way through to ensure that we put in place a very viable and a very efficient, far more efficient, public transportation system for the Belizean people."
Alfonso Noble,
How do you allay fears of the thousands of commuters that in fact this will be worked out?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Well I want to assure them that it is not something that we are just saying, we have been working on this since yesterday when we got the news that the receivership would be ceasing its work, or stopping its work, so we have been making contacts and carrying out the necessary arrangements to provide alternative transportation for the people. I must say too that we are very concerned that all these people who were employed by the receivership company should not lose their jobs just like that. We want to ensure that we put in place an alternative system, if it has to be that way, that they will be reemployed by whichever company, or companies, that take over the public transportation system. Clearly it will have to be more than one and we will have to ensure we plan it properly and ensure that the DFC and Atlantic Bank, of course they have their concerns, those will have to be taken into account, but the more important thing is to put in place an efficient public transportation system."
Alfonso Noble,
It was, by an estimate, a monumental failure in terms of trying to create a monopoly or one company that would run the entire busing system in the country. Is this failure attributable to the fact that $15 million of a $30 million loan from DFC was paid to Z-Line?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Well I don't know, I didn't examine the value of the assets, these were business people in negotiation with each other so they must have known what they were doing. You're right in saying it failed, they were not servicing their debt and that is obviously a matter of great concern to the government but please, between private sector people you can't ask me to judge whether they paid a proper price, that's how the market forces work."
