CIQ cabbies cry foul over swiping of passengers

JOHOR BARU: The newly opened Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex has become a haunt for illegal taxi operators or kereta sapu.

The kereta sapu drivers loiter along the walkways and corridors of the complex trying to find passengers, mostly foreigners.

They ask for between RM20 and RM30 for a short drive to popular places within the city.
United Taxi Association of Johor Baru (Gapet) president Raja Mohd Nor Mohamad said the kereta sapu operators were affecting the livelihood of licensed taxi drivers in the city.
Raja Mohd Nor hoped enforcement agencies would come down hard on the illegal cabbies, who were becoming a nuisance.

They should not just rely on undercover operations or their regular rounds to detect and nab such people, he said, adding that the association was willing to provide information on such activities. Taxi driver Abd Rahman Musa, 38, said illegal cabbies were hurting business.
“Sometimes, there are up to 10 of them canvassing for passengers as soon as they exit the complex,” he said.

“Besides the CIQ complex, they are also at the Larkin Bus Terminal and the duty free zone,” he said. Another taxi driver, Mohd Hisham, said he was forced to work from 7am to midnight just to make a profit of RM80 a day. “Most of the taxi drivers are afraid to talk about this issue because they fear retaliation,” he said.

A businessman who only wanted to be known as Chong said he felt that it was better to take a taxi instead of kereta sapu. “They charge such exorbitant prices compared to licensed taxis,” he said. Road Transport Department assistant enforcement director Mohd Fadhil Hassan confirmed the existence of illegal taxi drivers at the CIQ. “We have caught five of them since January,” he said, adding that plainclothes officers had been stationed at the CIQ to gather more information.

Mohd Fadhil said offenders face a maximum fine of RM10,000 or one-year imprisonment if found guilty.

Source: The Star.com.my

My View:

If all the drivers can lower down their price. I would like to take also. But their charges now is........