By Aaron Humes: Dr Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport, has highlighted the ongoing transition of employees from various independent bus companies into the National Bus Company (NBC). The minister underscored the importance of streamlining operations and ensuring all staff adhere to standardized regulations.
One of the primary obstacles has been addressing labour-related issues. Dr Zabaneh elaborated on this in a television interview, saying, “…we had to align, for example, the pay period. Some persons got paid at different times, so now we have standardized that timing across all the different periods. We also had, of course, concerns about persons not having a bank account in the first place. getting them used to the fact that they have to pay Social Security and all these things that they might not have been doing before. So that was a task that we had to really focus on in the first couple of weeks.”
Meanwhile, Susanna Vanzie, CEO of NBC, expressed optimism about the employees’ adjustment process. “You know, I think they’ve been very cooperative and I think they’re making their best efforts. I think with time and when we get our uniforms, you know, right now everybody still, they wear different clothes and who’s who, who’s not who. You know, the stickers cover some of the labels, but you can still see the old labels on the buses. So those things will change with time as we progress, and appealing to the passengers to in their minds start thinking of this as one company because our systems operationally will be across the board. So, it will no longer be Westline, James. Even though it’s the same people that you knew on your James bus and people that you knew on your Westline bus, they’re all the same people that you know and you love, now they’re under NBC. And it’s going to be an improvement. We’re going to do a lot of capacity building with our staff, a lot of training. That’s all coming. And so, you’ll see the standard rise across the board.”” she explained.
Meanwhile, Dr Zabaneh delivered a strong message regarding integrity within the organization. He acknowledged that the merger would inevitably shed light on both the dedicated and corrupt individuals among the staff. “The fact that you have a James bus line or a Floralia or a Westline that has been operating, and in the case of James, the oldest bus line operating, it means that you have had good employees over the years. You have solid people, solid drivers and conductors over the years. But they will be the first to tell you that you have many of them too, who sadly are corrupted. And they have to learn that you work hard, you get your pay, that you’re due, and then the collections that are made are for the company because the buses need to be maintained. Other people need to get their salaries, etc. We have to use those funds to, for example, keep improving and maintaining our terminals.”
The word is out, he continued – those days are over: “So we are appealing to them that those practices of the past need to go away now and it will be the duty of the management of National Bus Company for them to ensure that they have the best people working who are loyal, who are competent and who are honest. So if there’s anybody who cannot meet those standards, I believe they will move away on their own because those will be the standards that we are going to be enforcing.”
As NBC moves forward, all eyes will be on how the integration process evolves, with hopes for a stronger, more efficient public transportation system that better serves the needs of its passengers while ensuring accountability and dedication from its staff.
The post Transitioning National Bus Company staff to a new era of accountability and structure appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Aaron Humes: Dr Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport, has highlighted the ongoing transition of employees from various independent bus companies into the National Bus Company (NBC). The minister underscored the importance of streamlining operations and ensuring all staff adhere to standardized regulations. One of the primary obstacles has been addressing labour-related issues. Dr Zabaneh
The post Transitioning National Bus Company staff to a new era of accountability and structure appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
