Former National transport employees want to get paid
The heavily indebted bus company owned by the Novelo brothers went under last week. The receivers moved in to take over the assets because the company, National Transport, was not meeting debt obligations, reported to be in the millions of dollars. National Transport collapsed, but it was not the end. It has now emerged under a new name and we’ll have more on this later. Earlier today, News Five’s Jose Sanchez found out how the employees are faring.
Jose Sanchez, Reporting
It’s been four days since National Transport went into receivership. Its work force was sent home when the company, owned by the Novelo brothers, collapsed. The former operations officer says that they intend to get proper compensation for the employees.
Phillip Jones, Former Operations Officer, National Transport
philip jones
“At this present time the directors and management are working hard to ensure that all the workers get their severance pay, week and bonuses. That’s what the directors are doing. Since we had lost the runs in 2008 with the zoning, we have been working with the bank very closely; they knew our position. We were working on a cash flow basis due to the fact that we had lost seventy percent of run. That matter is in court and there would have been damages to be paid to National Transport due to the fact that the grounds on which the zoning was implemented by Department of Transport was illegal.”
Bus drivers of over 11 years for the company are feeling the pressure.
Milton Cardines, Former Employee, National Transport
“I run Faber’s Road Bus. The situation tight right now mien. Family deh bout, kids deh fi feed, bills pile up and this dah wah, low blow weh ketch everybody. I di work good one and Friday police man come and take away all the license and escort everybody in the yard with the bus them and thing. Dah wah real pain right yah right now cause people have to eat and Christmas deh right ya.”
Mark Cardines, Former Employee, National Transport
mark cardines
“I mi di drive bus and when they come and say they want the bus go park and thing. I mean fi say, Christmas deh right round the bend and we have family fi take care of, we got rents to pay, we got bills to deal with and then they wah come and do we thing like this. And nobody notify anybody and tell we nothing.”
Jose Sanchez
“So as of today, Monday, you are not making…”
Mark Cardines
“We noh di see no head way and thing and so we di try get wah lee bus and thing to get…cause you see the boss he own Belize Transit so we just got to get a bus to get back in the run because the run concern to we still yet.”
Jose Sanchez
“So when it comes to wife, kids, how many?”
Mark Cardines
“I have four kids.”
Jose Sanchez
“Bills to pay.”
Mark Cardines
“I got bills to pay, rent to pay.”
Jose Sanchez
“And you know the kids the look forward to Christmas.”
Mark Cardines
“And my daughter di go to U.B., high school, so I have to mek money for that.”
milton cardines
Jose Sanchez
“You know the central bank has been pressuring Belize Bank for months for non performing loans. And that is the reason I understand for the foreclosures. Do you think the Central Bank is putting unnecessary pressure because we have been here before?”
Phillip Jones, Former Operations Officer, National Transport
“To be frank with you, I can’t comment on bank because I deal with operations and I deal directly through Belize Bank and I know how the pay roll operate with Belize Bank and we had that money there that we were preparing for Belize Bank so that the payroll. Like I mentioned since 2008, we had lost seventy percent of our runs and we had been working on a cash basis so everything we do we had to pay cash to find resources and to get the company going.”
But cash is what the drivers don’t have. And they need jobs.
Milton Cardines, Former Employee, National Transport
“Right now dah anything right now. I confused. If I get a bus I could struggle and thing and work it out, but as far as it concern, dah any bus jump in the mix right now and thing. So whosoever have wah bus out there, I want a bus and try work it out.”
Jones says a protest has not been ruled out of the Novelo brothers’ plan. Reporting for News Five, Jose Sanchez.
Well………… Minister Hulse CLAIMS HE WAS FIXING THE SYSTEM…………..
This is what he created……….
All they needed was regulation……… not MICRO MANAGEMENT!!!
it’s a sad situation what is happening with national transport especially for the workers my heart goes out to them.The least the government could do is to try and get these bus that are only parked like a graveyard and give these workers back their job, since the udp took over office they only destroyed jobs not create like they have promise, and worse the bank came like the grinch of christmas for these workers. We all know that Minister Hulse, John flowers and Mr. Garcia from the receiver have a personal problem with the Novelos brothers that is no news to us and at the end of the day the only people suffering are the commuters and the workers of National Transport . No different than the P.U.P TAKE AWAY JOBS TO GIVE TO THEIR FRIENDS AND CROWNIES.
Minister Hulse and the rest of his colleagues knew that National Transport was going under months ago. They could have squeezed in the discussion of nationalizing our main Bus transportation system at Cabinet level instead of petty discussions like boxing out channel 5.
Point is, after blowing out $30 million worth of public funds, Tony and David Novelo should have been selling pepitos for a living, instead of living in a mansion. It doesn’t matter which Party is in power, the same set of people seem to prosper, and the taxpayers are even more heavily burdened with more taxes, while the poor people continue suffering as they grow in number!
All I want for Christmas is a ham, is a ham, is a ham. Ha ha ha…no ham for you this year. Novelo brothers ate it all AGAIN.
@ zane you are either confused or uninformed. GoB has nothing to do with the receivership. Messrs. Novelo owe Belize Bank and Belize Bank like any lending organization needs to get back its money. This is not GoB taking away jobs. It is a case of two business men being unable to pay their debt and the bank and other creditors exercising their legal right to ensure that they are able to recover some of the money they lent to Novelos. It just like if I go to any bank for a mortgage and I default. The bank has every right to either foreclose on my security or sell my property. Thats is exactly what Belize Bank is doing and there is nothing wrong bout it. Whether Minister Hulse or the receivers have something against Novelos is besides the point and has no bearing because Belize Bank has to cut its losses and recover what ever monies they lent to Novelos. This is a private debt and I certainly would never want PUP if they were in power to bail out this private company and I think we should be happy that GoB has not come in to bail them out because we have learnt from experience that when big sums pass around, some of it gets skimmed or the beneficiary of the bail out/ grant misuses the money. If GoB bails out Noevelos then they should bail out the poor who can’t afford to pay their loans as well.
The Novelos Brothers need to pay the bus drivers not Belize Bank. The Belize bank didn’t hire them. The bus drivers need to demonstrate infront of the novelos brothers office or home. They are some crooks. Mr Jones stop being a puppet. Not worth it.
The problem of National Transport Company is that of a private entity. The government has nothing to do with thier inablitly to service thier loans. Novelos got rich by monopolizing the transport industry in Belize. Novelos got no shame. by the way the bus system in Belize has not been fixed there is a still over crowding, speeding, no reciepts, brukdown busses. no buses at times, gettting wet, drunk bus drivers, dirty seats, buses parking and taking off in the middle of the road. our bus system is a nightmare.
NO ONE EXPECT G.O.B TO BAIL OUT THE NOVELOS BROTHERS. BUT THEY CAN ATLEAST GET THE BUSES SO THE DRIVERS CAN HAVE THEIR JOBS BACK.
So Minister Hulse’s re-distribution of the transportation routes basically sunk the Novelos……
IT SEEMS.
WHEN GOVERNMENT SAYS THEY WILL FIX…. WHAT IS ALREADY WORKING WELL………..
THERE ARE… MOTIVES……….INVOLVED…… shall we say.
I am assuming that the buses are the most valuable cash assets that this bus company owns now thirty million dollars ($30,000000.00) is quite a bit of money, now I don’t think that those buses are worth anything close to that sum let’s say maybe twenty thousand BZ dollars each at maybe and I doubt it 100 buses for a total of two million dollars ($2,000000.00), now how does the bank expect to recoup their money the most sensible thing that they could have done was to get rid of top management and replace with their own managers to keep the operation going since a lot of times when these unscrupulous business men make these loans the bulk of the money is not really invested in the business that it was loaned to and they are usually getting these loans approved by some corrupted bank employee that is taking bribes to facilitate the loans.
Would be real interesting to take a look at the collateral that was held to secure the loan.