Edwin Pangelinan, president of the newly organized NMI Taxi Association Inc., is asking the government to go after illegitimate taxi drivers.
He said the illegal taxis are owned and operated by mostly Chinese or Korean nationals and operate 24 hours at hotels.
Pangelinan said he once saw 22 vehicles operated by illegal taxi drivers parked outside a hotel to pick up tourists.
Muhammad Mizanur Rahman, the group’s secretary, said the illegal taxi operators are conniving with some tour agencies.
Rahman said some tourists informed them that they got the numbers of illegal taxis from a tour agency.
“They are getting our customers because they operate in our areas,” he said.
The NMI Taxi Association, which has 62 members, operates at the seaport, airport and all hotels of Saipan.
Pangelinan said some illegal taxis have stickers of tour agency
“They keep on changing the stickers to avoid detection,” he added.
Appeal
Rahman is asking the Hotel Association of the Northern Marianas Islands to look into the problem.
The tour agency organization in the CNMI should also investigate the involvement of their members in illegal activities, he added.
“And the Department of Public Safety should continue consistently with their operation against the illegal taxis,” Pangelinan said.
Muhammad Habibur Rahman, the group’s vice president, said some illegal taxi operators are dealing with prohibited drugs or acting as pimps for prostitutes.
“This problem has been here for so many years now,” Pangelinan said.
He said they are willing to provide information to the authorities to stop these illegal activities.
Pangelinan at the same time said their group is hoping that the local community will patronize legitimate taxis.
Rahman said their passengers are safe because they have 100 percent insurance coverage.
“We suffer badly because we are paying high insurance while the illegal taxis are not paying insurance,” he added.
