City Council Closes Down Yhony Rosado’s Business

Tour operator Yhony Rosado was in the news on Monday, criticizing government at a press conference called by the Federation of Cruise Tourism Associations of Belize. These small operators feel that Government, the B.T.B. and NICH continue to confer unfair privileges and favors on large foreign operators like Chukka and Dark Night. They feel that the locally owned operations are being over-regulated and even pushed out. Rosado is vocal and when he does make appearances he pulls no punches. But today he was reminded that he’s in the ring with a heavyweight after Belize City Council workers descended on one of his businesses and closed him down. Rosado owns Econo Tires located on the Phillip Goldson Highway. He’s been open for close to eight months and paid for his trade license in 2015. He hasn’t received the physical copy of the license, though, and says that’s all the excuse the Council needed.  

Yhony Rosado Jr.

Yhony Rosado Sr., Business Closed Down

“We worked cruise ship this morning; there was nothing much happening so I came by the tire shop and fix some tires with my son because it is a family business and then I was going to pay some bills. And then my son call me that City Council is here shutting down the business.”

Yhony Rosado Jr., Business Closed Down

“They come in like we da criminals; we dah noh criminals. I deh right there soh di stand up by the shop and they come and ask me who is the owner. I told them ih just gone do wah lee errand.  They tell me we need to talk to him. I said no problem. I text him and I told him come this side because look like dehn want problems. So he ended up calling and tell him the situation. Then afterwards dehn start tell we that we have to close this; we noh have this, we noh have that…a lot of thing with them.”

Yhony Rosado Sr.

Yhony Rosado Sr.

“I’ve been crying over TV that the tourism isn’t making it so as a Belizean, you have to be intelligent and an entrepreneur; you have to have a plan B. So I decided to open a tire shop; I have the building, I have the business on the main road. So we started to sell some tires; I registered the business as Econo Tires. And just in the Christmas month, I took off some ham days and turkey days to register the business under Econo Tires. The young man just came exactly two weeks ago to do the measurement and the inspection to know how much to charge me. I’m already paying four thousand nine hundred dollars for this building for property tax even if you don’t have a business. So I need to do some business to pay the bills because this is not just about open your month and magic happens. You have to work. So we opened the business and we are doing great. And I’ve been doing all my homework; register the building, pay my trade license. I have a receipt where it states that I have applied for the trade license. They have dragged their foot all the way like I’m not supposed to get a trade license. But it is in process right now and even when I went to pay for the trade license, they told me that it is going to take two to three weeks until the process get done. All of a sudden I am on the media fighting for my FECTAB members, for my industry in tourism and now I’m single out, closing down my business. We need to live; we can’t thief…we are not good at. So when my son tell me city council here to shut me down, cold like that; it was ridiculous. I couldn’t believe it.”