City to find way to stop taxi crimes

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

While many Jakartans now think twice before hailing a taxi, taxi companies, government agencies and the police have yet to find an effective way to stop the growing number of robberies committed inside cabs.

"For the time being there is nothing else we can do except encouraging would-be passengers to be careful in selecting taxis," Association of Land Transportation Owners in Jakarta (Organda Jakarta) chairman Herry Rotty said.

"The most secure way is to order a taxi from an operator because, as shown by the recent incidents, there is no guarantee of security if you hail taxis on the street," Herry told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

Herry noted a recent robbery involved a driver from a taxi company, known for its good security and service record.

A series of recent meetings between the Jakarta Police, the City Transportation Agency and Organda Jakarta discussed the issue, however, Herry said the meeting had not come to any solutions.

City police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said it was difficult to find a way to systematically stop taxi crimes, especially as many taxis were not equipped with good communication systems.

"Criminals in taxis can easily move to other places. But with a good communications system, we can track the movement of taxis," Firman said on Friday.

Police had set up a team to investigate cab robberies and had identified five robberies within the past month, while data showed there had been at least 26 cases since March.

Firman called taxi operators to be more selective in recruiting drivers, who were involved in most of the crimes.

He applauded the move of a taxi operator willing to connect its global positioning system (GPS) to the police's.

"Several other taxi operators have also expressed their readiness to connect their communication systems with those owned by the police. It will help the police to detect further incidents," Firman said.

Herry said the city could make the use of GPS units a main requirement to obtaining operation permits so operators and the police could closely monitor the movements of all vehicles.

He said Organda Jakarta would agree to help to obtain GPS equipment at lower prices for smaller taxi companies.

Currently, there are at least 42 taxi companies operating in the city.

Herry said the transportation agency also needed to revise regulations on taxis operating in the city, including requiring them to have good communication systems.

"The city must revoke permits of taxis which have not fulfilled the requirements," he said.