And so with all that we've told you all about the bus woes, but what about the political fallout? Many - including some in government - blame Transport Minister Melvin Hulse for letting things come reach this difficult pass.
The Prime Minister today conceded that mistakes were made:
Mike Rudon, CTV3 News
"He has not been allowed to speak today. Do you assign any blame to him considering in light of the fact that the bus operators have express no confidence in him. In fact I understand that even earlier today we were told that they ask that he not be a part of the negotiations. In light of that, has that shaken your confidence in him as the minister of transport?"
PM Dean Barrow
"I will repeat what I said earlier. It is clear that mistakes have been made on both sides. The Minister contrary to some rumors is not God and so the fact that in all of this given the long history the minister may have made mistakes - its something that I would never argue against. I don't say for a minute that I would contemplate removing the transport portfolio from the minister. But even if I had those thoughts - this is not the time. We have to get this issue sorted out first. Lord man, if we can get everybody around the table. See this as a bit of rebuke to the minister if you will. I have said in those negotiations he were accompanied by the Deputy Prime Minister and by Honorable Contreras. Please can we go forward now with the effort and dialogue so that we can solve this thing hopefully over the weekend or at the very latest on Monday. "
And while the Prime Minister did throw Transport Minister Hulse under the bus, so to speak, he went further, conceding that it was wrong and prejudicial against the BBOC to cancel their Western runs without the compensatory northern runs being in place.
We'll monitor things very closely over the weekend to see which direction things go: whether it will be accelerated negotiations or more militant direct action.
And to wrap things up by putting it all in historical context. Since the early 2000's there have been four major events of civil unrest related to busses, two on tower hill, two in Benque Viejo. This was the most impacting: a massive, coordinated simultaneous attack on the entire highway system. And thankfully it was also among the least violent; no one was seriously hurt.
It is also the biggest crisis that the Barrow administration has faced and the next few days will tell how damaged it has been by the entire fiasco.
