He was saying in no uncertain terms that if the government had not amicably resolved the current dispute they have about foreign bus owners operating on Belize's roads, they would resort some form of industrial action - AKA a bus strike.

The source of the dispute is that about a month ago, the Government agreed that it would limit Guatemalan and Mexican bus operators. The two sides agreed in principle that they would require these operators to hand off their passengers at the borders to local bus operators and taxi cooperatives, who would take over and transport these passengers around the country.

Everything seems to be going as planned until last Thursday, when the Government announced that it was postponing.

It sent out a press release saying quote, "A final decision on matters regarding buses from Guatemala and Mexico transiting Belize has been delayed pending a meeting with relevant stakeholders in the Tourism Industry who will be affected by that decision. That meeting, previously planned for today, has been rescheduled for next Tuesday, September 3, 2019."

As we told you, the local bus operators and taxi associations are interpreting this change as a delaying tactic to frustrate them.

We understand that the local operators met this weekend, and a new allegation has emerged. They say that they've noticed that some of the same foreign-owned companies have the Belizean green license plates. They suspect that a plan is in motion to provide these operators with local license plates so that they can operate while in Belize. The local operators believe that when these foreign-owned buses arrive at the border, they can switch to the appropriate license plates, so as to not draw attention.

We understand that they intend to table a proposal to Government at a meeting tomorrow, in which they want to be allowed to have a say in who gets these plates. They want to ensure that none of these foreign-owned buses have successfully infiltrated the local transportation system.

If the meeting is not favorable, we are told that there is a plan to initiate a national shutdown of the bus system in protest.