Serrano’s Bus Service Take Minister of Transport to Court
A road service permit granted to Serrano’s Bus Service expired on July fourteenth and the Transport Board has voted not to renew the company’s license. On Thursday, Minister of Transport Rodwell Ferguson spoke on various breaches allegedly committed by transport provider. But the company is not going down quietly, a claim has been filed in the High Court seeking permission to apply for a judicial review of the Transport Board’s decision to rescind the permit. Named in the suit are a number of government officials, including the Minister of Transport. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
An application for permission to be granted for a judicial review has been filed in the High Court on behalf of Serrano’s Bus Service. This follows a decision by the Transport Board to rescind a road service permit that was previously issued to the company for bus runs from Ladyville to Belize City. Attorney William Lindo Jr. represents Hernan Serrano in this matter.
William Lindo Jr.
William Lindo Jr., Attorney-at-law
“We make certain allegations there that the Transport Board came to that decision without hearing Mr. Serrano, without inquiring into the actual facts of what happened and simply came to a predetermined conclusion.”
With the decision not to renew Serrano’s road service permit, a new company, Central Transit, has taken over the bus runs in the Ladyville and Lord’s Bank communities. Some commuters, including, Anita Nembhard, complain about the inconvenience caused by the shift in carriers.
Anita Nembhard
Anita Nembhard, Commuter
“My first ride was on Monday and going back home, I didn’t catch it coming out, I had to go to the regular roadside, but going back home, I missed it. I’m having issues before that and you can imagine now the issues that we’ll be having, I mean, this new service, I can’t knock it because we need to give it a fair try but we want to give a company that is also putting us first. The company is not running where it’s supposed to run. Ladyville is not just to Perez Road. Ladyville goes as far as La Milpa, Japan, and Vista del Mar. I may live two to three minutes from the road, but my neighbors, my friends and my cousins, they are far beyond me, so we need a service that will run for us and we don’t have that in this new service as yet.”
Transport Minister Rodwell Ferguson is on record discussing the situation involving Serrano’s Bus Service. On Thursday, he spoke about infractions that were committed by the company in an attempt to debunk the notion that the decision to cancel the contract is based on party politics.
Rodwell Ferguson
Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of Transport (File: July 20th, 2023)
“Go to the Transport Board and ask them what questions and see all the discrepancies against Serrano and then by yourself you will determine if you know if it was justly done. You go and see the amount of discrepancies against him and then you make your own determination.”
Reporter
“Apparently, Serrano’s had a lot of infractions. Do you have any knowledge of these infractions? What are they?”
Rodwell Ferguson
“Well crash into another bus because of the competition, then too pulling guns on some people around the area. So there are many infractions, so the board decided that they don’t want to renew his contract or his road service permit. And then, remember Mister Shaw represents the bus owners on the board and even him voted against Serrano to get his contract renewed so, something is wrong.”
Isani Cayetano
“The pronouncements made by the Minister of Transport in the media, do you believe those statements were a foregone conclusion in terms of how the Transport Board would have determined the matter?”
William Lindo Jr.
“Yes, I would say so, because if you listen to the interviews with the minister, it’s as though they had decided already that they were not going to renew Serrano’s road service permit. And we say that that non-renewal is disguised when it‘s really a cancellation of his road service permit.”
Isani Cayetano
“This would seem, and perhaps this is out of the ambit of law, but it would seem as though perhaps there‘s a political aspect to all of what‘s happening here.”
William Lindo Jr.
“Well we raised the allegation that there is, at the very least, an appearance of bias here that Mr. Serrano‘s competitors are actually favored by this current administration. One being the chairman of Lord‘s Bank Village and the other the chairman of Ladyville Village both ran under the People‘s United Party village council tickets and it is now that they have a monopoly in the Ladyville and Lord‘s Bank area, they are the only game in town.”
According to Serrano’s attorney, named in the claim are the Minister of Transport, the Transport Board, the Chief Transport Officer, the Chair of the Transport Board, the C.E.O. in the Ministry of Transport and the Attorney General.
William Lindo Jr.
“The reason why we named all these people, in particular the minister, is because under the Motor Vehicle and Traffic Act, the minister decides who is the Transport Board. He selects everyone and they serve at his pleasure. An appeal of any decision of the Transport Board lies with the minister, so we have a situation where the minister is like God.”
Isani Cayetano for News Five.
