FLAMING TIRES BLOCK MAJOR HIGHWAYS IN BELIZE OVER alleged UDP PARTY CORRUPTION.

BUS OPERATORS BURN TIRES ON NORTHERN AND WESTERN SINGLE HIGHWAY SYSTEM, BLOCKING TRAFFIC FOR HALF A DAY.

By the time the evening news reports came on cable TV, the picture became more clear and suspicions started to coalesce into a feeling of certainty.

The government of Belize is run by a gang called a political party. This UDP party in control of the government and government doings and institutions had a clique supported by the rest of the non-involved gang in the CABINET UDP party. You scratch my back and if you can make some money out of your Cabinet Ministry, then I will support you is the rule. In this particular case what is becoming clear, is that there has been a planned political clique in the CABINET to invade and make a HOSTILE TAKEOVER of the most lucrative and rewarding bus runs in the country, along the cross country Western Highway and the Northern Highway. The two busiest single road systems in the country, with the most traffic populations and earnings.
What is mysterious is the sudden surprise appearance of a rumored 20 or so new school buses from California under a new company name, called WESTLINE. This company had no bus runs, no experience, had no runs, never existed before, but have come into the country of Belize with political backing and finance from some mysterious Cabinet UDP backer, at least a few million dollars worth.
Immediately the current furor is over the UDP Cabinet Minister, Melvin Hulse cancelling the bus runs on both lucrative Western highways and Northern Highways and re-issuing the permits for these runs to the brand new bus company. Turns out the company is fronted by a UDP insider, one Mr. Chuc, but he certainly did not have the millions to order all these buses. So where did the finance come from? Lord Ashcroft, one wag hinted with a smile.
The bus system is diversified among many small independent operators. This is good for the country, because it gives security in time of disasters, like hurricanes and earthquakes. The new apparently UDP political HOSTILE TAKEOVER PLAN is intended to squeeze out the small independents and take over their permitted bus runs and create a monopoly of a money making best segments of the bus transportation industry. You can smell the political greed and anticipation coming from the political backed financiers. Their identity yet unknown.
The small bus operators are united into two organizations and revolted, putting flaming tires blocking the Northern and Western highway. Politicians are always greedy and always looking for ways to takeover successful money making businesses and the chosen method of doing so, is by the PERMIT and LICENSE process, which is controlled by a CABINET POLITICIAN and then backed by the criminal political party gang controlling the government. The story never changes, just human nature at work.
This is the first organized corrupt foray, misusing government institutions of this magnitude, this term, by the new UDP political party, acting as managers of the government bureaucracy, into using the institutional bureaucracy and trappings of government to make themselves totally rich. The Prime Minister is noted for nepotism and making his family and relatives rich, of government work contracts and jobs, but up until now, he has governed reasonably well, and the public voters though not liking such nepotism, have winked and closed their eye to the practice, because we got reasonably good government back by doing so and the field of possible leaders is tremendously small in such a small country.
Johnny Briceno aspirant OPPOSITION leader, hopeful future Prime Minister and his well known gang of political PUP party thieves, tried to make hay over the issue in TV interviews at the highway blockade against a background of crowds and smoke from burning tires. There is probably not a hope of them ( the PUP ) doing that, as they have a bad reputation for thievery from the government treasury. The current UDP party are apparently now getting the same reputation, due to this HOSTILE BUS TAKEOVER MONOPOLY political play.
There are a couple of third party groups contesting elections, but they really have an opportunity here, if they can get themselves organized on a national level, for every seat. The voting public is clamoring for a change and the UDP have severely damaged any good faith and credibility they might have built up over the past couple of years.
The situation is still in play and may work itself out over the weekend with endless meetings. The small independent operators are being squeezed out, using the institutions of government to push them out, through cancelling their permits, and or by negotiating away their business runs in compromises, in favor of this new UDP backed bus Westline company.