On October 29, 2026, Public Service Union (PSU) President Dean Flowers issued a formal call for sweeping reforms to the country’s public transport regulatory framework, arguing that current practices create an uncompetitive, tilted landscape that prioritizes the state-run National Bus Company (NBC) over private independent bus operators. Flowers took specific issue with public actions by the Minister of Transportation and the ministry’s Chief Executive Officer, stating that senior regulatory figures should not be acting as de facto brand promoters for the NBC while simultaneously overseeing the entire sector’s rules and compliance. “It is unacceptable that elected and appointed officials tasked with regulating the entire bus industry appear on media platforms actively marketing the NBC, and in some scenarios, even stepping into day-to-day managerial roles for the state-owned firm,” Flowers emphasized. He clarified the structural lines of accountability that place the minister and CEO firmly within the sector’s regulatory ecosystem: the Transport Board, the formal independent regulator for bus services, is directly appointed by the Transportation Minister, and the ministry’s CEO reports directly to that same minister, eliminating any plausible separation between regulatory leadership and oversight of the NBC. “No amount of procedural loopholes or rhetorical deflection can erase that clear line of oversight,” Flowers noted. The PSU leader outlined that unregulated preferential treatment extended to the NBC, including targeted tax exemptions, guaranteed priority access to public bus terminals, and favorable routing and operating permit decisions, has put smaller independent operators at a severe, unfair disadvantage that threatens their ability to stay in business. He stressed that regulators have a fundamental obligation to enforce identical operational standards and equal treatment for every licensed bus service provider, regardless of ownership structure. To resolve these systemic inequities, Flowers is calling for targeted amendments to the pending national transport legislation, which the PSU asserts currently is structured to favor the NBC at the expense of private operators. The proposed amendments would explicitly delineate the distinct, separate roles of the Transportation Minister, the ministry CEO, and the Transport Board, eliminating any conflicts of interest that allow regulatory figures to prioritize the state-owned operator, and build a framework that ensures all bus operators can access public resources and regulatory decisions on a fully equal basis.