Impromptu tour of the city

As a foreign resident of Indonesia, I have seen more than my fair share of con artists, but a taxi driver working for Gading Taxi company tops them all.

On April 30, 1996, I boarded his cab on Jl. Kwitang, Senen, on my way to an important meeting in Tamara Center on Jl. Sudirman. Perhaps sensing my foreign accent, the driver -- on the pretext of avoiding a traffic jam -- went on an impromptu tour of the city which took me as far away as Slipi. At this point, he put on a performance worthy of an Oscar and said that he actually did not know where Jl. Jend. Sudirman was. Eventually arriving at my destination an hour late, the driver then insisted that I had to add a few thousand rupiah more to his metered rate (forgetting that he had earlier told me that his meter had already been adjusted).

Calling the Gading Taxi office later, I was told that they had no driver with the name or ID number I mentioned. Perhaps, they said, the original driver sublet his cab to another person over whom they had no jurisdiction. Attempts to reach the manager of the taxi company proved just as frustrating, as he always seemed to be unavailable.

A taxi driver who doesn't know the busiest street in the city and a taxi company that doesn't know who is driving its cabs is unbelievable.

C. NELSON

Jakarta