Taxi drivers face off with Novelo’s management
Despite efforts to the contrary, attempts to alleviate the congestion in Belize City have crashed with the simple reality that the narrow streets are no match for the number of cars hitting the pavement. This morning, one such typical street scene involving taxi drivers, buses and a congested corner threatened to erupt into much more. Jackie Woods has the details.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
After successfully buying out most of their competitors and acquiring the rights to operate across the country, the Novelo’s Bus Company has become the leader in the road transportation business. In Belize City, the company has been operating from three separate terminals, but because this has created confusion for their consumers, the proposed plan is to operate from one location.
Adolfo Quan, Manager, Novelo’s Bus Terminal
“The proposal in effect is trying to bring all these services into one central terminal in Belize City. So that if you want to travel by bus, you now that you go there, wherever you want to travel, it’s one place you go. That’s the gist of the proposal, the reason for the proposal being bringing all the transportation into one central terminal.”
That central station would be the Novelo’s Bus Terminal on West Collet Canal. Novelo’s manager, Adolfo Quan, says the present terminal will be expanded, but modernising the facility will not be easy.
This morning, the members of the Novelo’s Bus Terminal Taxi Association and the Market Square Taxi Stand faced off with the bus company’s management. Late last year, Novelo’s met with the taxi drivers to discuss the proposed development plans and the accommodations that would be made for them.
Adolfo Quan
“In effect what it meant was moving them from where they are, giving them an area to park and giving them exclusive rights to the passengers coming out of their terminal.”
The drivers say they had no problem with the plan and welcomed the idea of being relocated from the street to inside the terminal compound. However, they claim that the move would have come on December first. Since that meeting, the drivers claim they have not heard from the company and continued to operate from in front of the terminal.
Theodore Henry, Pres., Novelo’s Bus Terminal Taxi Union
“We went back in January and we spoke to them about it, that they could hold twenty cars in the yard right now, but they are still waiting to finalise I don’t know what. So we are waiting for them to come out and say something to us.”
But that decision has since created severe congestion in the area. Because the Mosul Street terminal is closed, those taxi drivers moved to the main terminal, increasing the number of taxis working on the canal side to twenty-seven.
Adolfo Quan
“From what I know, they are not properly organised. We know we have a group that was working out of Mosul Street, we know there are people coming in from all different areas trying to benefit from the area, and there was and is still a group that was organised here at the Novelo’s terminal. When we close the Mosul Street terminal everybody came over here, so there’s a bit of conflict and has always been since we moved over here, between one segment and the other segment. So we told them that if we are going to work with them they need to get that into one unit so that we could deal with their leaderships.”
But as Novelo’s management wait for the taxi drivers to organise themselves, and the taxi drivers wait for instructions to move into the terminal, the Transport Department has stepped in. Concerned about the obstruction of the free flow of traffic, this morning Belize City Traffic Manager, Kent Gabb told them that they had to move and the drivers were not happy to see one of their signs being taken down.
Theodore Figueroa, Taxi Driver
“Well this morning at about 8:45, a Mr. Gabb himself with two of his officers came out here and started to walk around the sign. We went to find out what was the matter with them and the sign and he was saying that we need to move the taxi stand from here and stake it a little further down that side. We were trying to explain to him then that the space on that side would not be enough because of the amount of taxis here. He said it has already been discussed and they came to the final word that they will move it, they must move it and it will happen today.”
The drivers say moving the short distance down the street will affect business and have asked Mayor David Fonseca to address the problem.
Theodore Figueroa
“We want to remain right here, we don’t want to move for here. We have been working here for all the years, we are comfortable here and we haven’t made any problem with those people and we want to remain right here.”
Marigold Tillett, Taxi Driver
“I have six children to mind and I out here thirteen years. I no have no where else to go.”
Dalton Coot, Taxi Driver
“Eleven years since I have been out here and it will affect we definitely if we from out here because then we no have nowhere else to go. All my life since I resign from the government I’ve been driving a taxi and it’s out here I’ve been.”
Brendalee Vaccaro, Taxi Driver
“I no have no where else to go, I di do taxi for ten and a half years. This is what mind my kids, this is what I take for a living everyday, seven days a week. I got no where else to go and I’m not moving, only two females out here and I’ll stand with them a hundred percent, not ninety, hundred. I got nowhere else to go, so they have to take bulldozers and move we, maybe so we will move.”
According to the drivers, they are not the ones responsible for the congestion, it’s the buses that block the street when they stop to let their passengers off on the sidewalk. In their defence, company representatives tell News 5 the drivers have no choice because the buses have extreme difficulty entering and leaving the compound.
Adolfo Quan
“The buses have to do that because of the very same reason, they can’t get in and out of the terminal freely because of the way the taxis are parked. If we had easy access, we wouldn’t need to park on the street, because we have space in the terminal for them to disembark.
We have problems coming and going out of our terminal, we did not complain about this situation, we have been working with what we have here for the past few months. But the transport people came and asked us what we think and we gave them out views. Our view is that if we could have a different way of parking, them so that they would not obstruct the entrance and exits of our busses, it would be ideal.”
Jacqueline Woods reporting for News 5.
This afternoon, Mayor David Fonseca and other officials met with the taxi drivers. According to Fonseca, the drivers concerns were discussed and after listening to the complaints, it was agreed that they should continue to operate from their present location. Fonseca says another meeting will take place on Monday where he along with officials from the Traffic Department, representatives of Novelo’s Bus Company and the taxi drivers, will do their best to resolve the issues at hand.
