PM Briceño Says Fuel Subsidy Was Aimed at Protecting Bus Commuters not preempt Bus Strike

Prime Minister John Briceño says the Government’s decision to provide another fuel subsidy to private bus operators was made to protect commuters, not because the Belize Bus Association threatened industrial action.  Bus operators had warned that they could take their buses off the road if the Government did not respond to the rising cost of fuel and other operating expenses. Such a move would have affected thousands of people who rely on public transportation to get to work, school and other essential services.  Cabinet later approved another round of fuel support to keep the buses running without an increase in fares.  Speaking on The Morning Show today, the Prime Minister said the Government was not pressured into making the decision. He explained that the main concern was the hardship a bus fare increase or disruption of service would cause for ordinary Belizeans.

John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize: “The bus people are talking about striking and what that if they don’t have a bus subsidy but we did not give the bus subsidy because we are afraid of them to strike. I’ve always said that is their right and if they feel that they need to strike to make a statement that’s on them but we do recognize that we have tens of thousands of Belizeans riding those buses weekly and if we don’t do something they are going to increase, the bus owners, rightly so because the cost has gone up they are going to raise their charges and that would put a hurt on our Belizean commuters. So we said, you know what, we need to extend the subsidy. But we did something even more innovative. We realized that the price of diesel is not going to go down right now. We were hoping that by December/January probably. So we said, you know, we are going to be giving these subsidies for three months. But we have decided that we are prepared to extend these subsidies until the end of March, the end of this financial year. So at the end of month two the minister will meet with the bus owners and then take a look at the price of diesel and see what adjustments we have to do. And then we said that should the price of diesel go down to $12 where it was before this crisis in Iran we then said that we will remove the subsidies. So, you know, we are future focused on how are we going to be addressing all of these issues.”

Briceño said many commuters simply cannot afford to pay more for transportation. He maintained that the additional subsidy was therefore aimed at protecting passengers while giving operators some relief from higher fuel costs.  The Prime Minister also made it clear that threats are not the best way to deal with the Government. He said the administration remains prepared to meet with bus operators and address genuine concerns, but its decisions will continue to be guided by what is best for the travelling public.