DFS, in a memorandum to taxi owners and drivers, said it can no longer continue the free taxi ride and taxi commission program.
DFS-Saipan president Marian Aldan-Pierce, in her memorandum dated Sept. 24, said the program will be suspended until Dec. 31, 2008.
She said the suspension is due to the “severe tourism recession.”
“The continuing decline of our island’s economy had put DFS in the position where it is imperative that we manage our controllable expenses closely,” the memorandum stated.
Shaha Ranjit Kumar, a taxi driver, said he is not worried about the suspension because it only affects the taxi drivers who pick their passengers from the hotels.
Rabby Syed, the president of Saipan City Taxi Association and the island’s only organized group of taxi operators, said they will give themselves at least a week to determine the impact of the suspension of the program which, he added, has been helpful to taxi drivers.
Syed declined to further comment, saying “this is a very delicate matter for us.”
His organization has 17 members.
Variety learned that some taxi drivers get 90 percent of their total daily earnings from the DFS program.
Under the program, DFS pay for the taxi fare of hotel guests, which range from $2 to $8 depending on the distance of the hotel.
