?We, the National Bus Owners Organization, hereby declare that it would be an even greater mistake to grant Mr. Eugene Zabaneh [former president of the organization] what he is asking for,? said a statement forwarded to us by organization chairman, Froylan Gilharry.

Eugene Zabaneh could not be reached for comment today, and our phone calls to his Belize City office were not returned. Almost three weeks ago, we reported that Dr. Louis Zabaneh and Eugene Zabaneh, who is also a partner of Maya Island Air, had proposed to Cabinet that the NBC gets exclusive control over the national transportation system. In exchange, the Zabanehs would assume the debt of the country?s biggest bus line, Novelo?s, which has been under receivership for the past seven months.

Novelo?s, which had bought out a number of smaller and major bus lines in its bid to establish a national monopoly, owes the Development Finance Corporation?a public finance lending institution?about $30 million.

But even while it is under receivership?under the direct control of the Government?the company continues to make scheduling slip-ups. Several travelers, for example, had purchased an 11:00 a.m. ticket on a recent Saturday, only to be told, after inquiring with a supervisor, that the bus was scheduled to leave half an hour later. When the bus did arrive at the departure gate, the passengers, who had un-numbered tickets, scrambled and shoved each other?young and old?in a mad rush to get the seat for which they had paid. However, Minister of Transport, Hon. Cordel Hyde, told Amandala today that Cabinet wants to fix the problems facing the public transportation system. He said that they are aware that people want more reliable buses that leave at particular times from particular locations.

In recent weeks, Hyde has been touring the country, meeting with bus owners in the Stann Creek, Toledo and Cayo Districts, and he said he would meet with bus owners in the North shortly.

?We?ve been able to get a sense of some of the peculiar problems of the operators [and] some of the areas where they need our help?the industry is not regulated enough; it?s not enforced enough and we do have situations where, because there is not enough enforcement? there are violations and that makes for a haphazard industry?? he conceded.

?It is not a problem that has just arisen; it has been caused by an accumulation of neglect and chaos over the years,? Hyde said. ?We are seized with the urgency of the situation. We are grappling with the situation on a daily basis?and we realize that with each passing day, the public gets more frustrated ??

Gilharry told Amandala that, in order to fix the problems, bus owners should be given more autonomy to regulate the industry. In a 6-page statement to the press, the NBOO outlined its proposals for the industry. In a nutshell, what the organization is asking for are new laws, new policies and a thorough reform to modernize the industry.

He said that the organization does not want to assume the Novelo?s debt, but wants to inject new capital in the industry. They are requesting that the Government facilitates them with ?soft loans? to modernize the industry.

On its list of expected contributions from Government are also development concessions to the NBOO, a new commercial driver?s license, and ?complete autonomy to the National Bus Owners Organization for the development and regulation of the transport industry.?

Gilharry said that he has been trying to set up a meeting with Government, but to no avail. This week, though, he sent a copy of the proposals to both the Prime Minister, Hon. Said Musa, and Minister Hyde. But Hyde told us today that he had not received the statement from the organization, and was not prepared to discuss the details, at this point.

He did say, however, that ?Cabinet is extremely mindful of the fact that our small bus operators are an important part of the industry?we would not deliberately try to harm them.?

Hyde agreed that the bus owners could help regulate the industry, but asserted that, at the end of the day, Government could not abdicate its responsibility to regulate and monitor it.

He said that there are about 60 functional bus operators in the country, and he agreed with the organization?s position that there should be standardized passenger fares, and a regulatory system for companies to comply with.

?Where we differ,? he added, ?is that they would want internal regulation; as I said before, we [Government] cannot abdicate [our] responsibility.?

However, Gilharry contends that prior administrations were prepared to give the organization more autonomy and more say in how the industry is run, and who gets road service permits, but the politicians reneged on their word, he charged.

?Government continues to give road service permits, and we lose money. There has to be a limit sometime down the road?? Gilharry said.

He informed that there is currently a moratorium on new road service permits to give Government ?time to study to situation.? Cabinet should soon come up with a plan on how to proceed, Gilharry added.

Hyde also informed that the Zabanehs have withdrawn their proposal and had never presented their business plan to Cabinet, as should have been done.