Bus line cancels runs to protest illegal competition

Put in the best possible light, the massive government brokered deal to create a monopoly bus company was an overambitious effort that left the D.F.C. and Atlantic Bank badly wounded, consumers with second rate service, and the remnants of the company surviving on a day to day basis. Tonight the future of that struggling but vital transportation system is in doubt as Novelo’s bus line has initiated a protest against what it calls illegal competition from the family that once owned it.

P.A. Announcement
?Attention all customers travelling on the Western Highway, there will be no more busses until further notice.?

Janelle Chanona, Reporting
That was the desperate situation on West Collet Canal this afternoon in Belize City as the Novelo?s Bus Company, in protest of unwelcome competition from National Transport Company, cancelling its runs heading west starting at five p.m. Customers were not pleased.

James Gault, Commuter
?I?m going to coastal, Gales Point. They seh five o?clock we wah get this bus, now they seh they noh know when they wah get a bus. We come yah prepared and everything, we have all we things, what we supposed to do, take it back home? That wah cost me more money. I wah have to hired something to take me and all dem things deh. That noh right.?

Commuter
?For anybody it would be a major hassle. You want to get home at a certain time and you can?t do that, of course it will be very stressful.?

Janelle Chanona
?How do you get home today, you go to the other bus company??

Commuter
?There?s another bus company? I?m going to hike a ride.?

Victor Quiñonez, Station Manager, Novelo?s
?The commuter should bear patience with us and I hope it will be resolved as quick as possible.?

According to Station Manager at the Novelo?s terminal, Victor Quiñonez, the receiver had no other choice.

Victor Quiñonez
?Our message we try to make as clear as possible, is that we do not feel that we have been played fairly as such. We being in the part of the receivership, I think some kind of business incentive should have been given to the company as a receiver rather than just having another bus company getting into the western routes, which was one of the exclusive routes for Novelo?s before the receivership took over.?

This evening Quiñonez maintained to News Five that everyday, the receivership loses between seven and eight thousand dollars to the National line vehicles.

Victor Quiñonez
?The receivership has decided that whatever runs the National Transport do run, we won?t contest it. This is one run and we won?t contest.?

Janelle Chanona
?Realising that your commuters will still need to get where they want to go, won?t that just send them right into their waiting busses??

Victor Quiñonez
?We are giving them option. If they want to wait, they can, or else we can refund their tickets to them.?

Janelle Chanona
?Why have you reached this decision, why get to this point that you are shutting down runs??

Victor Quiñonez
?Well, I guess, it has reached a climax point now in which we do have to do something… we are losing every day a considerable amount of our income.?

Martha Audinett, Commuter, National Transport
?I?m travelling to Blackman Eddy. I choose this bus because I travel everyday on the bus and some days if di rain, you get wet up in the bus, they noh have conductor, they noh have change to change your money, and then sometimes you come out the bus and you still have to wait for your money. This dah wah better bus because it no di bruk down.?

Shawn Gardner, Commuter, National Transport
?I?m going to Cotton Tree Village and I chose this bus because we are sick and tired of Novelo?s. Every time you go dah the terminal dah problem to get inna the bus, you have to di push and push. And I think the whole set of Belizean people are upset and tired of it. And they don?t give us good service, so we choose this bus…and it?s cheaper too, so.?

Driver of the 4:45 National bus today was Albino Moh, one of thirteen drivers charged this morning in Belize City?s Magistrate?s Court for failure to produce a road permit.

Albino Moh, Driver, National Transport
?Well, I don?t feel too bad because we have been working well with everything, with the people, and our boss has been good with everyone.?

Janelle Chanona
?And your permit??

Albino Moh
?The permit, no. But I do have this document signed by the government.?

While Moh admitted not having a permit, he says he will continue to drive because he has this: a document entitled ?Exclusive and concessionary license granted to National Transport Services Limited under laws of Belize?, which is signed by Antonio Novelo, owner of National Transport, and Government?s representative Maxwell Samuels, which speaks of a fifteen year exclusive license from December 2002 to the year 2017.

At news time we understand that so far three Novelo’s runs have been interrupted: the 5:00, 5:30 and the 6:00 p.m. time slots. The agreement cited by Antonio Novelo is presumably the same one that his brother publicly denounced two and a half years as being invalid when its existence was exposed at a pre-election press conference held by the United Democratic Party.

David Novelo
“I would like to mention and this is…Leader of Opposition please.”

Dean Barrow, Party Leader, U.D.P.
“We will give you another five minutes, after that, tell us whether in fact this document is valid and whether that’s not Antonio’s signature.”

David Novelo
“I would like to state… Leader of Opposition this is not a valid document.”

Dean Barrow
“But is it Tony’s signature?”

David Novelo
“It’s not a valid document.”

Dean Barrow
“But is it Tony’s signature??

David Novelo
“Anybody could have signed that signature Leader of Opposition. I would like to mention, if I may be granted… I would like to mention that…?

Doug Singh, Chairman, U.D.P.
“Mr. Novelo would you mind… ?

David Novelo
“Mr. Singh, the country deserves to know, and I think the media wants to know.”

Doug Singh
“Mr. Novelo, there is an order and I…”

Audience Member
“Did Tony sign those documents?”

David Novelo
“No, there is no validity towards this document. The Leader of Opposition should know…?

Audience Member
“So this is a fabricated document?”

David Novelo
“Yes…In order for you to have a legitimate franchise, it needs to be Gazetted and it needs to be SIed. Come on, this is not valid!”

Doug Singh
“Mr. Novelo, on this contract, is that your brother’s signature?”

David Novelo
“I am telling you, there is no validness towards this…?

As we mentioned earlier, thirteen bus drivers were charged with failure to produce road permits following stops at a police checkpoint between miles fifteen and sixteen on the Western Highway on November second. They are George Haylock, Wayne Myers, Gilbert Henry, Jerome Shepherd, Lorris Espinoza, Olafio Castillo, Teofilo Chavarria, Eugene Matute, Orlando Walton, Albino Moh, Andrew Wagner and Isidro Pott. All thirteen men pleaded not guilty and were granted self bail in the sum of four hundred dollars each. A fourteenth driver, a resident of Benque Viejo, failed to appear today so Magistrate Henry Usher has issued a bench warrant for his arrest.