Government Pushes Ahead With Plans for National Bus Company

In ten days, senior officials at the ministry of Transportation will be meeting for a second time with bus owners and operators.  The meeting will further discuss the proposed National Bus Company, a public-private partnership (PPP) that could see lower operating costs, improved reliability, safety and service.  Yesterday, Minister Dr. Louis Zabaneh was accompanied by his CEO, Chester Williams and the Chief Transport Officer, Leon Gentle when he met with several major bus operators out west where he was able to further explain the plans of the PPP and how it would function.   Minister Zabaneh told Love News that consultations will continue through to the end of the month.

Dr. Luis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport: “On the 30th of this month, Friday the 30th, we’re inviting all of them to a second meeting, everyone together, at which point we will be forming a committee made up primarily of bus operators, one representative on the committee from the ministry and four operators, where we will be asking them to  select from the list of auditors across the country three auditors.  Originally we had said one auditor but we know that auditing firms have a lot on their plate so to get this done in an expeditious way we’re asking them to select three firms that would work to go and do a valuation of their business, their assets, their cash flows, et cetera. So along with the terminals that the government would be bringing into the proposed public private partnership,  we could then get a value of the entire industry. And so for June and July, that is what would be done. At this point, we’re not asking the operators to sign over their ownership in any way, shape or form and the persons we’ve met with today, again, have expressed that they are willing to give the process a chance so that they can understand it better and they can share their concerns and even give, of course, their ideas for which we welcome very much.”

The second stage, currently underway and slated for completion by July 2025, involves a comprehensive assessment of each bus operator’s value. Independent accounting and financial firms, selected by a committee comprising a Ministry of Transportation representative and four nominated operators, are meticulously evaluating assets. This valuation will form the basis for either a payout to operators, the issuance of proportionate shares in the new PPP Company, or a combination of both. Concurrently, government-owned terminals and related properties are being valued to determine the estimated opening value of the new entity.  Minister Zabaneh spoke to our newsroom on the special committee that would be established to oversee the assessment of the value of each bus operator. 

Dr. Luis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport: “We have in fact three in Belize. We have BEL, we have BWSL and we have BTL. These companies are in fact public/private partnerships. They were not all PPPs when they were formed, maybe back in the 80’s or 70’s but that’s what they are. They’re partially owed by the government and partially owned by private entities some of course including Social Security and other entities that are out there. Private citizens who have decided to invest their money in these companies. These companies have legislation that protects them because they are what we call natural monopolies meaning that even the economics profession will be supporting the maintenance of such a monopoly because it’s a public utility. Electricity, water and transportation is no different especially in our country where so many of our lower income families depend upon public transportation. They don’t own their own vehicles so this touches the public across the country. So we already have examples in Belize where it works very well. You have for example with BTL you have over 1,500 private individuals, persons who also own shares. They of course have their annual meetings, they can select the members on their board, their board select their management teams and that is precisely what we’re contemplating here for this public/private partnership.”

According to concept paper, the goal is to use the PPP to consolidate the national highway bus system to achieve economies of scale that will yield lower operating costs, improved reliability, higher quality service, and greater safety./