Mayor Darrell Bradley clarifies newly implemented bus routes
Up north, the commuters protested this morning the deplorable conditions of the San Estevan Road and by this afternoon, workmen were busy trying to fix the road. But in the city, commuters have been up in arms over newly implemented bus routes for the city. Councilor Alifah Elrington Hyde has gone on record to say that buses are not permitted to stop along Albert and Regent Streets. But according to her boss, Mayor Darrell Bradley, that ain’t so.
Darrell Bradley, Belize City Mayor
Darrell Bradley
“Let me clarify. What the council is doing with its infrastructural works is that we are expanding the loop for Albert and Regent Street. The original route was on Albert and Regent and we want that loop to be Regent Street, Regent Street West and then East and West Canal and then back on to Regent Street again. The idea with the master plan is to expand the downtown area. We want to emphasize that no buses will be interrupted from driving along this area because you see that we’ve put in place this policy about a week and a half ago and you still have buses on Albert Street, you still have busses on Regent Street. All that we have done is that we have moved the main bus stop, which is in front of the Supreme Court, and we have put that on Regent Street West. And we are building a facility there and the idea is that we want to create a more trafficable area on back and side streets. So that there will be no interruption and no barring of any buses from going along in the downtown. You can still catch the bus along Albert Street, you can still catch the bus along Regent Street; the buses just can’t wait for extended periods of time. We released some photographs from these buses; four of them waiting along the Regent Street area and no bus drivers in any of them. That’s what we are stopping and we are saying if you want to wait, wait on Regent Street West.”
Reporter
“But that’s not what the traffic officers that are out here…”
Darrell Bradley
“One second, there is one mayor in the city and this is why in terms of the media, you ask me and I clarify. The position is that is a bus right there. Nobody is stopping that bus from driving along this area. None of our traffic officers is stopping any buses. Buses, since this policy has gone in place, are driving around the area. All we have done is stop the buses from parking right here. You see that no buses can park there; now they have to do that on Regent Street West.”
Reporter
“We were on the buses for about seven hours yesterday and the buses couldn’t stop on any of these streets. Everybody had to go to the stop.”
Darrell Bradley
“Well I will check with our people; that is not what our policy is. You can catch a bus. We would have wanted it otherwise. For example you have pre-designated bus stops throughout the city, but that’s not what we have in Belize City. You flog down a bus and the bus stops. We don’t like that situation. We think that there should be pre-arranged stops. There are about three stops along Albert Street right now. There is one in front of where Sing is, there is one in front of where William Quan is. Those bus stops will continue. What we are trying to do is that we are saying don’t stop; don’t leave your bus. If you want a depot that depot will be built and it is on Regent Street West, but you can still go the traverse. So if there is any miscommunications in terms of our staff, we will make those corrections.”
