New transport system for foreign bus companies
At Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, a new transport system was approved to deal with a temporary ban on buses from Mexico and Guatemala that traverse the jewel. The problem had been brewing for some time but it recently came to a head when stakeholders complained that the foreign tourism buses were being allowed to make stops at various locations including the Water Taxi Terminal without permits. Cabinet has approved the new measures that will now control the runs by Linea Dorado and San Juan buses entering Belize at the northern and western border points. Local stakeholders complained there is no reciprocity and they are not allowed to operate freely in Mexico and Guatemala. Today, C.E.O. in the Ministry of Transport, Colonel George Lovell, explained to News Five that protocols must be adhered to in three different areas.
Col. George Lovell, C.E.O., Ministry of Transport
“There are three distinct types of operations that occurred with these international buses. We have direct in-transit routes or operations, which is operations, for example, that originate from Guatemala and end up in Mexico and in that particular type of operation we will allow for people to come in on a manifested list. So there will be a manifest of passengers and because there’s no need for them to drop off any passengers in Belize, they will be allowed to go through the Boom Road and not into the City, from Guatemala destined to Mexico and vice versa. When you’re coming from Mexico going straight to Guatemala, if there’s no need for any passenger to be dropped off in Belize and there’s a direct in transit, then they will go through the Boom Road. The second area is that of those charters. When we have these charter runs, the charter runs will be allowed to drop off at the Belize City Water Taxi location. Again, there will be a manifest list of passengers and the drop off will be only and one of the things I need to stress is the only place in Belize that drop-offs will be allowed will be at the Water Taxi location in Belize City. Now for the charter runs passengers, who are destined for Belize will allow to be drop-off at the Water Taxi and the bus will be given the opportunity to take back passengers out of the country back to its place of origin.”
“The third area is what we would class as an indirect in-transit where passengers for example, coming from Guatemala going to Mexico but has on its manifest passengers for Belize, will be allowed to drop off those passengers at the Belize Water Taxi location and then continue to the northern border with the remainder of those passengers only. I want to emphasize again that they will not pick up any additional passengers but they will only take those additional passengers that were on that manifest list that are destined for the northern border. “
Lovell says the buses from Belize traveling to Mexico and Guatemala will also now have to abide by a similar system. The tentative date set for full monitoring and enforcement is April twentieth. By then, Lovell says everyone, including bus operators and passengers should have been adequately informed of how the new protocol will work.
