Earlier in the news you heard the Prime Minister speak about a bulletproof vehicle in the Corozal Free Zone as if it is no big deal.
Today, the CEO in the Ministry of Transport and former Commissioner of Police said that there's no law to stop it:
Voice of: Chester Williams, CEO, Ministry of Transport
"When it comes to the issuance of temporary permits for vehicles that comes into the country, those permits are not issued by the Department of Transport nor with the authorization of the Department of Transport."
"Those permits are issued by the custom authorities at the different border points. They are normally issued for one month in the first instance, so it's an option for renewal. So at the expiration of the one month, then they can go back to customs and seek extension to renew."
"If the owner of the vehicle or whoever imports the vehicle into the country wishes to keep the vehicle in the country for an extended period of time, then they will have to visit the Department of Transport and apply to have the vehicle registered in Belize, at which point the Department of Transport will register the vehicle and assign the vehicle a license plate number."
"So in respect to this particular vehicle that you're speaking of, that vehicle is not in the country on the authorization of the Department of Transport. As I said earlier, it's a matter that would normally be dealt with via customs and not our department. Thank you. "
"I must say that there is nothing in law to prohibit a person from importing or using a bulletproof vehicle in Belize. There is nothing in law to prohibits that."
