Taxis count cost of lost business from robberies

JAKARTA (JP): The escalating number of taxi robberies in the capital over the past few weeks has drastically affected the income of many taxi drivers.

Interviewed by The Jakarta Post on Friday, Robertus Silalahi, Lipan, Rianto Widodo, Dikun, Suharyono, Darya and a number of other drivers from various taxi companies expressed fear that the already far from perfect image of the city's taxis would be ruined if the robberies continue.

They said passenger numbers had dropped considerably, especially at night, resulting in a 30 percent decrease in their daily earnings over the past two weeks. The drivers all expected the trend to continue.

Robertus from Express taxis said that on an average day he used to earn around Rp 30,000 on top of the Rp 75,000 fee he must pay for his taxi.

That has now dropped to Rp 20,000, which he must use to feed his wife and two children.

Before the crisis hit the country last year, he could sometimes earn as much as Rp 50,000 for a day's work.

"It's tough times for us, you know," Robertus said as he took a deep puff of his cigarette while waiting for passengers in the Sogo department store taxi pool in Central Jakarta.

"I've been roaming around the city for about four hours now and I've only collected Rp 25,000 so far," he explained, adding that he must first scrape together another Rp 50,000 to meet the Rp 75,000 fee charged by his company before beginning to earn take home pay.

Lipan from the same taxi firm said that he was sometimes unable to make any money at all.

He said he disapproved of taxi drivers robbing their passengers because it only made his life even harder.

"I hope that taxi drivers involved in robberies will now realize that all of us are affected by their bad conduct. I hope that they will end the practice," Lipan said.

Lipan's difficulties are being shared by drivers of many of the 21,340 taxis that operate out of 30 taxi companies in the city.

Taxi robberies have become more frequent recently and media reports on the issue have deterred many Jakartans, particularly women and expatriates, from using taxis.

Police records show that most taxi robbery victims have been female executives and foreigners.

Rianto from Blue Bird taxi company said that taxi drivers' earnings first dropped when the economic crisis hit the country and many people turned to cheaper means of transport.

"We're now sinking even deeper due to the misconduct of our colleagues.

"Worse still, next week's MPR (People's Consultative Assembly) Special Session will deter yet more potential passengers from leaving their homes," Rianto said.

The growing number of taxi robberies has led many people to regard taxi drivers with a considerable degree of suspicion.

Some passengers, especially those traveling at night, have insisted on carefully inspecting the interior of the car before deciding on whether to accept a lift or not, Lipan explained.

"It's actually very irritating, but it's the passenger's right to ensure their own safety," he added.

In contrast, Suharyono from Steady taxis said he approved of passengers taking these extra precautions.

"Why should be irritated with that kind of behavior by our passengers? For me, it shows that they must be good passengers and not criminals," Suharyono said.

It is not only taxi passengers who have become the victims of a rising tide of crime sweeping the country, drivers too are often sought out by criminals seeking a vulnerable target.

"On the one hand, we're afraid that our passengers will turn out to be crooks and rob us of our money, and on the other hand, our passengers are afraid that we are intent on robbing them," Suharyono said.

He called on all taxi companies to screen the drivers they employ to keep criminal elements out of the profession and pointed out that most robberies so far have been committed by unlicensed taxi drivers.

"Taxi companies should not tolerate crimes being committed by their employees.

"They should fire all drivers found guilty of committing crimes," Suharyono said.

Offering words of advice to frightened members of the public, Suharyono said that before getting into a taxi it was important to first check the vehicle number and the driver's identity card. (ind)