_{(l-r) Dr. Louis Zabaneh – Minister of Transportation; Oswin Blease, Owner, Fu We Transport Services}

BBA accuses Minister of choosing “token appointee” as bus industry rep

BELIZE CITY, Tues. July 22, 2025

The naming by Minister of Transportation, Hon. Dr. Louis Zabaneh, of a bus industry representative to a Pro Tem Advisory Committee on the National Bus Company (NBC) has served as yet another point of contention for the Belize Bus Owners Association (BBA) in response to the Government’s move to overhaul the public transportation system. The Minister announced the composition of the committee on Friday, July 18. He listed the organizations, entities and sectors that would be represented, and said it would comprise partners and stakeholders that the government has been working closely with to “move forward through the different stages of the process.” The members were to be selected from among persons who serve as part of the UNDP, the media, the University of Belize, the Attorney General’s Ministry, the Statistical Institute of Belize, the Ministry of Economic Transformation, the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure Development, the bus industry, and the National Trade Union Congress of Belize.

Further expounding on the objective of the advisory committee, Dr. Zabaneh shared that committee members will provide input on the structure and different components of the new company that is set to be launched on January 1, 2026. “We want to ensure that the product that we have for the Belizean people is the best that we could come up with,” Zabaneh declared.

The person appointed to serve as bus industry representative is Oswin Blease, the owner of Fu We Transport Services. He said that as an operator, he can share advice from the perspective of operators and even share concerns from the commuters. Asked about the reticence of those operators who are still on the fence about the initiative, Blease said he believes that fear is a main factor, as the status quo would change. “For me, I look at it from a business concept,” Blease said. He said he considers it like investing in something that will provide him with a pension so he can “sit at home and relax and benefit from everybody’s little pinch.” He added that he saw the benefits from the first consultation the Minister had, and urged other operators to consult and get more advice.

The committee was meeting for the first time on Friday, the same day that the announcement on the committee’s composition was made, and the Minister said that the members were given a summary of all that has transpired thus far in the process that is underway to form an NBC. This includes the current phase of the process, which involves getting bus operators who support the initiative to sign on to being assessed by auditors they themselves selected. In addition, Zabaneh says they were notified that when the inter-district electric-buses pilot project under the UNDP comes onstream, a cashless system will be put into place. He reported that the pilot project includes three buses, and should start operating “in the next few weeks.” Commuters will use cards that would enable a direct transfer of revenue to the bank. Zabaneh insists that this will increase revenue. The buses will also be retrofitted with trackers and cameras.

But the BBA’s support of the process has become less certain due to its opposition to the selection of Blease as the bus industry rep. On Monday it rejected Blease’s appointment in a release titled, “BBA exposes Minister Zabaneh’s Bad-Faith.” The BBA argued that, by not giving them a voice on the Pro Tem Committee, the Minister is discarding the Association, and it contends that the move contradicts his “stated intent to include ‘a wide cross-section of stakeholders.’” The BBA described Blease as a “novice, minimally experienced, non-BBA member” who they deem as a “token appointee.” With his selection, the BBA says, the Minister is guaranteed that the BBA will have no meaningful input in a process that directly impacts them as key stakeholders. They accuse the Minister of trying to silence the Association, and describe the selection as bad faith.

Responding today to the BBA’s question of the criteria used to select the bus industry representative, Minister Zabaneh made it clear that Blease is listed as an operator, and that he was chosen from among those who support the NBC initiative. He added that the advisory committee is intended to advise his ministry, and as such, he had the final say on the appointment. In reference to the point made by the BBA that Blease is a novice, Zabaneh said that he is a small operator who “brings a wealth of experience in the bus industry” and has participated in all consultations held on the proposal.

The Belize Bus Owners Association (BBA) says it has 31 members, and, according to Zabaneh, the number of those members who will be participants in the proposed venture, which initially was 16, has now climbed to 22. However, the Minister has now made a clarification, saying that participating in the audit process is not “a commitment that you will hand in your assets or anything to a new company. It is for us to get an idea of what the overall industry looks like today, its profitability or lack of profitability, and how you’d compare that now with projections from the national bus company; and you can see what your dividend stream will likely provide to you, and compare that with what you are making or not making right now. So, we would hope that everybody would come on board and, obviously, that everyone would be a part of the national company.”

In regard to the comments made by the BBA in response to the appointment of Blease, Minister Zabaneh insists that the administration is not in a quarrel with the members of the BBA, who have a right to their own views; but remarked that it is a kneejerk reaction on their part, as they see that their own members are individually signing on to the first phase of the NBC. He indicated that if the BBA president, Thomas Shaw, being on the committee “will get some of the other members of the BBA to participate, then Mr. Shaw is welcome to the committee, by all means.”

Zabaneh said they are still meeting with individual operators who have yet to sign on. His expectation is to have everyone who will come on board do so by the end of this week, so that the Government can then proceed with onboarding the auditors who will conduct the valuations.