Belizean buses blocked at Western border

And from the south we go to the west, where new regulations imposed late last month on foreign bus companies traversing the Jewel are now affecting local tour operators. Guatemalan buses are under a number of restrictions when coming into Belize, and are now only allowed to drop off passengers at the Phillip Goldson International Airport and the Marine Terminal. So now the Guatemalans are reciprocating by blocking Belizean buses at the western border. The first incident involved a Chaa Creek tour group heading to Guatemala’s Camino Real and was stopped at the connecting bridge last Wednesday. Chaa Creek was eventually forced to hire a Guatemalan owned mini-van operator to transport the tourists to their hotel. But it is not a one-sided story and Chaa Creek Lodge has since been in contact with Guatemalan tour guide, Alex Morales, who claims that he was denied entry into Belize based on the new regulations. Morales also said he had to employ the services of a local vehicle to transport his guests into Belize, which prompted the blockage at the bridge. This situation threatens to spill over to other local tour operators who take tourists into Guatemala. Lascelle Tillett of S&L Travel and Tours came to our studios today and told us about his concerns with the new bus regulations.

Lascelle Tillett, Owner/Director, S&L Travel and Tours
“If I have a group to be dropped off in San Ignacio and they’re coming from Guatemala, they would have to come to Belize and then we would have to drive them all the way back if one of us do not pick them up at the border. The other problem is the in transit. The in transit would not be able to come into Belize City to go into a restaurant or even stop along the way to use a rest room. And that’s a big problem. Also, because of this problem, the Cayo operators and the Belize City operators like us are not able to take people into Tikal anymore because the operators are blocking the only bridge out of Melchor because they are having the same problem to drop people off in San Ignacio.”

Delahnie Bain
“Have any of your buses been stopped as yet?”

Lascelle Tillett
“Not yet because luckily, while they’re stopping, we don’t have anything going over until the third week in May. I have a group of thirty to drop off in a Hotel in Camino Real.”

Delahnie Bain
“And your concern is that this will affect you when your buses try to cross?”

Lascelle Tillett
“Yes, it surely will.”

The new regulations were implemented on April twentieth.