Flores Bus Company files injunction against Transport Dept

Turning to the perennial problem on the highways, road rage escalated to confrontation between two competing commercial bus companies in September. The Flores Bus Line was removed from the highways for one month and as a precautionary measure it has filed an injunction against the Transport Department to prevent any future penalties since it claims the procedure was not followed according to law. Last September Flores Bus Line and a competing operator in the route between Belize City and Lord’s Bank were involved in a row that resulted in violence. The rivalry between operators had been volatile for several months and commuters had complained of the threat to their safety by racing buses and reckless driving. News Five caught up today with Hubert Elrington, attorney for Flores Bus Line.

Hubert Elrington, Attorney for Flores Bus Line
“He alleges that they did not follow the procedures that the law laid down for the suspension of permits and licenses. If you are given a license and you buy buses and you buy equipment and you hire people, you have to engage in a lot of expenses. It’s a very expensive thing to operate a bus service. And the Board just arbitrarily decides that they are going to withdraw your permit. The court will not look on that as being a fair thing to do. So for that purpose Mr. Flores was able to go to the court and make a complaint to the court that they had not treated him fairly. They should have given him proper notice that there was a complaint against him or more than one; they should have had a fair hearing and given him a full opportunity and if they decided to impose a penalty, they should have afforded him some opportunity to be heard as to why the particular penalty should not be imposed, that kind of thing.”