7 News Belize

BTS On the Road To Hell
posted (June 12, 2020)
We also asked the commissioner about the situation with the Belize Transit System bus operation. As we reported last night, that bus service is commissioned and subsidised by the police department to pick up and drop off police officers who live in the north. But, it's been causing chaos for other bus operators on the northern corridor. They say, BTS is sniping their passengers on what should be a police only run.

Today, the commissioner of police said that it's a bad situation, but the police will have to live with it until they can do better:

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"There is a saying that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, like you said the complaints are there, officers are saying that at times the bus is ram jam with civilians and the officers cannot find a seat, sometime they have to come standing."

Reporter
"Have you made a call to Miss Maroquin scolding her saying man you're completely contravening the purpose, more than that officers are taking 3 hours to get home, because the bus stops and pick up every civilian who is on the side of the road."

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"We have had meetings with her in the past and the breached on the contract had been explained to her on numerous occasions. I have tasked the legal officer to look at it and to see how these concerns can be addressed. While I am tempted to pull the plug on the contract, I just don't think that I can do it now, because as much as we are not getting the service we think we deserve, it is still to some extent bring the officers to work and taking them back home especially that night run. That's the one I am more concerned about and so I will have to see what more patience we cam bare, until we can do better to be able to ensure that our officers are going to be at home safe in the night time when they come off duty."

Reporter
"Public safety is in fact being put at risk, in so far as once somebody sniping the civilians on the road then other buses start to race and we know we've seen hostilities between bus drivers where there is arguing on the road and all types of dangerous situations. Obviously an intervention has to be made to avert a violent confrontation."

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"I have said to Miss Maroquin, I understand that maybe the 6am in the morning run from Belize City and the evening run may not give her the amount of passengers that she needs to be able to make a profit. So I had advise her to apply to the department of transport to get a permit to allow her to run around that same time so that she can pick up passengers other than police, but in the absence of road service permit to operate at that particular time then she cannot do so and pick up passengers other than police, because then she'll be acting in violation."

Owner of BTS, Daisy Marroquin has not responded to our request for a comment.

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