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Last week, Alton Flores appeared on this newscast complaining that the Department of Transport was refusing to license his busses. Flores who has a run to Ladyville took out an injunction against the Department of Transport after they suspended his road service permit. Today he took up a protest in front of the UDP Headquarters to send a message to the Department of Transport. We asked him the tough questions.

Alton Flores, Flores Bus
“They are trying to take me off the Ladyville run completely.”

Jules Vasquez,
“How much of this is your own doing because of the problems you had on your bus with fighting, people with machetes?”

Alton Flores,
“Ok umm I don’t really want to comment on that…”

Jules Vasquez,
“But you have to comment on that, it is on the table. That is on the public’s record. No, no, I have to object to you on that.”

Alton Flores,
“Well concerning the machete I will be honest, I never deh yah so you would have to talk to who was there when the machete and so were hauled out.”

Jules Vasquez,
“But it is your bus.”

Alton Flores,
“Well I don’t know. I can’t comment on that right now.”

Marion Ali, News 5
“Not the machete issue but there’ve been several other instances where your company has been fingered as the company.”

Alton Flores,
“They will finger me because I was not placed there politically.”

Jules Vasquez,
“You’re saying all these charges are blameless?”

Alton Flores,
“They are useless, they have no foundation.”

Jules Vasquez,
“So you’re saying no machete incident occurred?”

Alton Flores,
“I don’t know. I don’t know about no machete incident. If any machete incident happened then that is a matter for the police and they might have that. But if it would be good if you ask the Police Department. If any wrong was done, if any wrong was done, yes the Transport Board has a responsibility but if they find wrongdoing then let’s all be punished, don’t just punish one party all the time.”

Riva a Fire, Protestor
“This whole thing is just victimization. All these men out here are men who are trying to keep their jobs because they work for Mr. Flores. Mr. Flores has been running in Ladyville from way back when he had a lil red bus. He built his company over the last six or seven years and they are trying to run him out when they are trying to find their own selected people to run.”

Jules Vasquez,
“What do you think being out here in front of the UDP headquarters will achieve?”

Alton Flores,
“Well I tried to call Ms. Saldivar, she refuses to answer my calls so I assume through the media she’ll get all the information I want to get to her.”

Jules Vasquez,
“You’ve been speaking out, you have court action, at some point you have to take it to another level if people don’t want to listen to you.”

Alton Flores,
“Well I am going as far as I can until I go bruk. When I don’t have anything more to eat I will have to go like how Mr. Charlie gaan. I will have to go like him because this is my bread. This is how I maintain my family. This is how I send my son to school.”

Flores says that the scheduling of the busses is unmanageable because it only allows operators to take 45 minutes from Belize City to Lord’s Bank and that’s not enough. With 4 operators now on the same run, it leads inevitably, he claims, to arguments.