Nation in transport crisis as creditors pull out of Novelo’s
Starting tomorrow morning, bus providers on temporary permits will be serving Belizean commuters following announcements today by the Atlantic Bank that it is withdrawing from its joint receivership with the D.F.C. for the Novelo’s Bus Line.
Late this evening an official release from the Ministry of Works, Transport, and Communications reads as follows: “The Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications has been informed by the receiver managing the Novelo’s Bus Line Limited that there will be a cessation of service provision tomorrow December twentieth, 2005.
In a letter yesterday December nineteenth, 2005, Mr. Kevin Castillo informed that unless certain terms and conditions were met, his management would be unable to continue company operations. As of five p.m. this evening there have been no further official communication from the receivership management of Novelo’s Bus Line Limited, and as a result the Belize Transport Board will implement a contingency plan to ensure that the needs of the commuting public are met.
Other service providers are being issued temporary road service permits to fill the gaps to be caused by the anticipated cessation of service, and an adequate level of service will be available to ensure continued safe and regular transport.”
Tonight News Five understands that after a series of intensive meetings, this week Atlantic refused to pay the company’s fuel bill, which is estimated to be a whopping twenty-three thousand dollars a day. We are told that the decision is largely due to the fact that the company has incurred a crippling overdraft, believed to be in excess of one million Belize dollars. As for management, officially we were told this morning that general manager Robert Garcia was not talking to the media. But the company has consistently maintained that their profits have been eroded by sniper runs, with the blessing of the Transport Board. Earlier this month, the Transport Board issued temporary permits to the receivership’s chief competitor and former owners, the Novelo family. But other sources indicate that despite having a captive commuter pool and working equipment, gross abuse in expenditure in areas such as fuel and spare parts may have actually been the significant factor in the receivership’s failure. With the Novelo Bus Line now in insolvency, the Development Finance Corporation and the Atlantic Bank will begin their haul and pull over the company’s assets, negotiating for the amounts each will attempt to pursue for the respective millions that they are owed. And even so, the people who are likely to emerge from this nasty mess smelling like roses are the Novelo brothers themselves. With Atlantic wanting out of the industry, their bid to buy back the company is the only game in town. We understand the family has put forward a ten million dollar offer with the Belize Bank acting as financial backers. To maintain regularity in the transportation industry, bus permits will be issued on a week to week basis with the contingency plan set for implementation in the morning. And as if the receivership needed any more headaches, this afternoon representatives of drivers fired earlier this month showed up at our studios claiming the company took monies out of their paycheques but never handed it over to the Social Security Board.
David Borland Sr., Driver Fired from Novelo?s
?We visited the Social Security and again, it was shocking to us to find out that they were not paying our Social Security contributions that they were taking from us. As in my case, they have only paid in about seventeen contributions for the year ?04. And for ?05, it was about half-way, they paid twenty-six. So we feel that they have been robbing us. And with the condition of buses that we were, if we had gotten into an accident and gone to Social Security, we would have not received any benefits. So at this time we are really complaining about our Social Security should be paid in full. We want them to pay that in full, they have not been doing this, they have been taking this money from us and not putting it into our contributions at Social Security.?
Janelle Chanona
?What do you want to happen or can you make anything happen since you have already been fired?
David Borland
?We believe that the people at Social Security should do their homework, that is why they have inspectors et cetera, to go into their offices and check up on what has been going on. Because we know for sure that they have been taking?in my case they have been taking like nineteen change out of my pay every two weeks.?
In a press release just in from Novelo’s Bus Line: “The receivership management of Novelo’s Bus Line Limited apologizes for this untimely but unavoidable crisis and the impact it will have on its three hundred and eighteen employees and their families, as well as on the commuters and the general public. The receivership/management assures all that every effort is still being made to work out a solution with the Ministry of Transport and the major creditors in order that the company can resume normal operations.”
Late information to News Five suggests that the process has been initiated to sell off the assets of the Novelo’s Bus Company. It is unclear tonight what will be the status of the receivership?s employees under this new scenario.
