Floralia gets back its PG to Belize City runs; but Transport authorities appealing damages in Floralia case
BELIZE CITY, Wed. Dec. 20, 2023
Floralia bus line is back on the road from Punta Gorda to Belize City with its daily 5:30 a.m. run and its Monday to Saturday 6:30 a.m. run. Its applications for road service permits for those runs were approved at a duly gazetted December 14 meeting of the Transport Board.
The two PG runs were among three Floralia runs which had to be halted due to a ruling from the High Court that they were improperly awarded because the road service permits were approved by the Minister of Transport, who does not have such authority. It was found that the Minister was instead usurping the authority of the Transport Board in making the decision. A decision on the third run, which was from Dangriga to Belize City, Monday to Saturday at 6:00 a.m., is to be made at a meeting of the Transport Board in January 2024. At that time, the Board must properly reconsider applications previously submitted by Bryant Williams of Griga Line and Floralia. The Court found that none of the three Floralia runs went before the Board, and that Griga Line’s application was merely raised during a meeting of the Board, but was not formally considered, as required by law. Williams bus line previously held the run, but on or around February 9, 2022, the owner of that bus line was notified that his permit would not be renewed, even though he had a legitimate expectation that he would receive the renewal. The Board instead made an issue of the fact that the original permit was granted in 2013 to William’s uncle, Calbert Williams, Sr., who subsequently passed away. The Minister of Transport, Hon. Rodwell Ferguson says he expects that either applicant will appeal the decision of the Board after its January meeting.
In the case of the PG runs awarded once more to Floralia, Thomas Shaw, the president of the Belize Bus Association who sits on the Transport Board, told Amandala this week that James Bus Line did not apply for the runs because the owner of that bus line never considered them feasible, given a lack of demand at those times. His issue was in relation to the proximity of Floralia’s runs to his own runs on the return leg from Belize City to PG. While the departures are 30 minutes apart, there is only a 15-minute gap on the return. James did submit a letter of objection. He cannot appeal the decision of the Transport Board because, under the regulations, only applicants are entitled to appeal to the Minister.
On a related note, this week, attorney for Bryant Williams and James Bus Line, Senior Counsel Dean Barrow told Amandala that the Government is appealing that section of High Court Justice Geneviève Chabot’s order relating to the award of damages to his clients. He said, “They have not tried to say that the court was wrong to order the quashing of the permits and to order them to redo the whole thing. And the time for appeal is now past.” Speaking about the Minister’s involvement in the award of the permits to Floralia, Barrow said that based on what the Minister has told the members of the Belize Bus Association, it was clear that “this was one that he could not get away with. Presumably, politicians who tell the Board what to do or who influence the Board, won’t normally do so in a manner that is so brazen, in a manner that is so, as it were, heedless of the fact that, look, there will be consequences if, indeed, the Minister’s position comes up in a review to what the Transport Board did and that’s exactly what took place.”