Taxi drivers suffer economic fallout from Bali blasts<\/p>\n
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The bombing in Bali has reverberated all the way back to Jakarta,
\nwhere taxi drivers are feeling the effects of the attack.<\/p>\n
The blast, which killed almost 200 people, many of them
\nforeign tourists, shook the image that parts of Indonesia at
\nleast were safe for foreigners.<\/p>\n
Thousands of foreign tourists fled the island shortly after
\nthe attack and many countries promptly issued travel warnings for
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
The travel warnings and the exodus of foreigners has had a
\nparticularly hard impact on drivers of Silver Bird taxis, many of
\nwhose passengers are foreigners.<\/p>\n
\"It has been very drastic. I can't say how large the decrease
\nhas been but we consider it very lucky if we can still bring some
\nmoney home,\" Wasito, who has been driving taxis for about 10
\nyears, said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"Most of our customers are foreigners and now they have either
\nleft the country or are keeping low after the blast.\"<\/p>\n
Another Silver Bird driver, Sumardi, said most Westerners
\nlumped Islam together with terrorism, causing many foreigners to
\ncancel trips to Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
\"Now we can only get less than Rp 200,000 (US$21) a day, far
\nbelow our daily target of Rp 390,000.<\/p>\n
\"We can only bring home some money if we can get more than Rp
\n300,000, which is quite difficult,\" said Sumardi.<\/p>\n
The Blue Bird taxi group, which manages Silver Bird, uses a
\ncommission system where drivers receive a percentage of their
\ndaily earnings. The larger the earnings, the larger the
\ncommission.<\/p>\n
Another taxi driver said the number of local passengers had
\nalso fallen since the Bali attack.<\/p>\n
\"I have not had any foreign passengers since the blast. Even
\nthe local ones are getting hard to find,\" said Herman from
\nLiberty Taxi.<\/p>\n
\"I guess most Jakarta residents are keeping low after the
\nblast and reducing unnecessary visits to public places such as
\nmalls.\"<\/p>\n
There have been at least 20 bomb hoaxes in Jakarta since the
\nBali bombing.<\/p>\n
But Herman said he was still able to meet the revenue target
\nset by the company and could \"bring home some money for my family
\nevery day\".<\/p>\n
He, however, admitted that there was a decrease in income.<\/p>\n
\"Usually, I could bring in some Rp 3 million for the company
\nbefore the blast. Now, I can only get some Rp 2 million.\"<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Solichin of Express Taxi said he was not suffering
\nmuch from the blast, claiming to be able to bring home at least
\nRp 50,000 daily.<\/p>\n
\"There were two or three slow days after the blast but now I
\nam busy with passengers.<\/p>\n
\"Therefore, I do not have any difficulty in meeting the target
\nof Rp 95,000 set by the company,\" said Solichin, who drives an
\nold Ford Laser taxi.<\/p>\n
Solichin, however, said that those who drive newer Toyota
\nSoluna taxis may find it difficult to meet their daily revenue
\ntarget of almost Rp 200,000.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/taxi-drivers-suffer-economic-fallout-from-bali-blasts-1447893297",
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