Bali taxi wars flare again

Saturday, 10 Jun, 2010 0

Bali’s taxi wars have flared again with a violent protest involving hundreds of taxi drivers that damaged cars and injured two TV journalists on Monday.

Local media reported that drivers from the Bali Tourism Service Association (PJWB) went on a rampage in Denpasar, damaging vehicles belonging to the Blue Bird taxi company.

The PJWB accuses Blue Bird of exceeding the agreed quota of taxis and of unfairly entering the Bali market.

The Jakarta Globe says Blue Bird is known for its high service standards and security. Many passengers opt to use it because of its reputation for reliability, and because customers are urged to report any problems to the company.

“The local associations, in contrast, are sometimes accused of unfair pricing and coercion. Local taxis are often more expensive than Blue Bird,” said the Globe.

PJWB chairman Gusti Made Oka Sukranita said that the company had agreed to limit its taxis to 600 “but now the Blue Bird fleet numbers 750″.

A Blue Bird driver, Made Wijana, said he had been taking two Australian passengers from Sanur to Kuta when he encountered the chaos.

“When we passed by Makro supermarket, there was a crowd of protesters driving their taxis. They approached my car and threw a stone at the back window,” Wijana said, adding that the protesters had also forced his passengers out.

“My passengers were shocked, they later took shelter at a nearby stall,” he told the Jakarta Post.



Related News Stories :   Jackalope adrenaline sports festival to make its US debut at Virginia Beach     Whale Watching in Newport Beach, CA     Americans spending more on outbound tourism     Passport Office workers to strike     Brazil visa requirement reintroduced for Americans     How Florida Keys became the Conch Republic  

profileimage

Ian Jarrett



Most Read

Sarah Doyle from Visit Phoenix

Michelle and Jalyssa of Visit Mesa

Alison Cryer, MBE of Representation Plus

Tracy Vaughan, SVP Global Trade Development at Visit Lauderdale

Marc Anderson CEO of Visit San Antonio speaks to Graham McKenzie in London about his city and IPW23

Graham McKenzie talks to Visit Florida’s CEO Dana Young at #huddle23

At #huddle23 in West Palm Beach we speak to Lauren Pace of Visit Florida

Jane Cunningham, Director of European Engagement Destinations International

Fred Bean, Founder and CEO of Hotelport

Kent Anderson of Kirk Mountain Adventures

The essence of Atlantic Canada

Elliot Ferguson of Destination DC
TRAINING & COMPETITION

Price Based Country test mode enabled for testing United States (US). You should do tests on private browsing mode. Browse in private with Firefox, Chrome and Safari