President of Belize Bus Association Says Transport Board Is Being ‘Unfair” to Ritchie’s Bus Line

The President of the Belize Bus Association, Thomas Shaw, sits on the Transport Board that approved the cancellation of Ritchie’s permit. Shaw sits on the board as a representative for the bus operators. He told us over the phone that he sought to intervene on Ritchie’s behalf during a recent board meeting when he learned of plans to revoke the operator’s license. Notwithstanding Shaw’s intervention, the decision to remove Ritchie’s Bus Line from the highway was final. Shaw still thinks it is an unfair thing to do.

On the Phone: Thomas Shaw

On the Phone: Thomas Shaw, President, Belize Bus Association

“What is actually taking place right now is yes the consultants did come in but nothing has not gone to Cabinet as yet, nothing has been formalized in terms of the way how operators are being targeted. In terms of Mr. Richie’s I told them that what we need to do is have some kind of heart, empathy for operators that have been in the industry for all these years and I think that everybody deserve a fair trial. You can’t just arbitrarily come out and say oh you break down so you have to come off the road. If there wasn’t somebody else in place, that wouldn’t have happened. In our meeting I had suggested that a letter be sent to Mr. Richie, give him an ultimatum, make him come in and see what he can do and cannot do. But, when he received the letter to state that he must cease and desist operations on the thirteenth of this month, which I think was quite unfair. Because, if you are telling an operator you need to invest, operators are afraid to do that due to the fact that nobody knows who is next, you know.”