UPSET TAXI DRIVERS SPEAK OUT AGAINST BEING BLOCKED OUT FROM TOURISM INDUSTRY

November 01, 2007

A number of taxi drivers are upset because they say they are being blocked out of benefiting from the tourism industry. Love News was at the Tourism Village this morning and we spoke to taxi driver Sydney Collins.

Sydney Collins,taxi driver:

“They are not allowing me to take the tourists around anywhere in Belize because they said that I don’t have a license but there are many guys out here that don’t have a license that they’re allowing to take people right now. Now they’re telling me they need to see my medical record and I already have my police record. I only need my tour guide license so I don’t see the reason why I can’t do any tours today. They are just chasing me out of here and a lot of guys didn’t even take the course like I did and they are able to do tours. I took the course twice and it was a seven week course and I stopped it due to the fact that my girlfriend had a baby and the second time I completed the 10 weeks course at $166 and I passed with all my grades in the 80s and I got my certificate and they gave me a list and said that I have to present this and they said that tourism is for everyone. I paid my $100 fee to enter into the course and they gave me a receipt and a book. They didn’t give me any paper telling me that I have to present this record, that record and all that concerning records because there are many guys who have tour guide license and are moving around here and they didn’t even present any kind of documents. All they did was get the tour guide license and I don’t think it’s fair.”

Olivia Norales,Love FM:

“So what do you plan to do?”

Sydney Collins,taxi driver:

“Well I can’t do anything but I guess I won’t be able to eat for two weeks because I’m going to have to go ahead and wait until I’m finished to get my doctor’s papers and take it in and wait for a week or two so I won’t be eating for another week or two.”

Love News spoke to Raymond Shepard, Tourism and Small Business Initiative Officer for the Belize City Council. Shepard said they have been trying to regulate the industry for quite some time now. He said what is happening should not come as a surprise since they have been making their objectives known to everyone.

Raymond Shepherd, Tourism and Small Business Initiative Officer for the Belize City Council:

“We want to recognize that this is an industry and there are criteria for anybody that would like to work within this industry that they must meet and all we’re doing is working along particularly with people who we came and found to be operating in this zone and we have been working with them over the past year and encouraged them and provided flaccidities through which they can get their training and meet the regulated criteria of this industry. So now, we have been preaching for the past year that as of September this year, we were going to fully the policies and procedures governing this zone. Today is November 1^st, which means that we are already late to who were interested or who were participating in the training, to become licensed tour guides and give them an opportunity to complete their training and then come out here and conduct their business. This is an industry, like I said before, which has standards and if we don’t meet the standards, we put ourselves at risk of loosing the entire industry.”

Shepherd said while some of the taxi drivers have gone ahead and done their training, there are others who refuse to do so.

Raymond Shepherd, Tourism and Small Business Initiative Officer for the Belize City Council:

“We have been coaching; we have been working with all the groups telling them what need to be done in order for them to survive in this industry. Some of them, and I’m very happy to report that in fact some of them took the initiative and went through the entire process of becoming trained and so we are working with those people and even though they don’t have a license at this point, they fact is that they have completed the training and are now in process. So we’re working with them. Those who have out rightly refused to do the training, they are not meeting the criteria and we cannot allow them to come and destroy this industry.”

We asked Shepherd what is being done to ensure that only trained tour operators use the area.

Raymond Shepherd, Tourism and Small Business Initiative Officer for the Belize City Council:

“First of all, we have established a rotation system out here. It is only those persons who are trained will be allowed to enter that rotation, and that in itself is a measure that will exempt those who are not trained to even be able to survive out here.”

Raymond Shepherd, Tourism and Small Business Initiative Officer for the Belize City Council.

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