Taxi operations to stop by September 2003

By September 2004, all 193 taxicabs operating at the Duty Free Shoppers and around the island would stop operation when the insurance policy of each motor vehicle expires.

To date, 30 percent of the total number of taxicabs have halted operations. According to taxi operators, the remaining 70 percent would stop taxi business by August 2004 due to the continued refusal by various insurance firms in the CNMI to grant them insurance coverage. By August, all taxicabs would be eliminated from Saipan, they said.

To forestall this grim picture, the group has turned to the Legislature for help in coming up with a measure that would make it mandatory for insurance companies to provide them coverage.

The group hurdled the first step yesterday when the 14th CNMI House of Representatives passed House Bill 14-166 that amends Public Law 11-55 to provide for the inclusion of taxicab operators in the mandatory automobile insurance coverage provided by insurance providers at the coverage rate set under Public Law 9-29.

The Committee on Commerce and Tourism noted that the Department of Commerce had informed it that insurance providers in the CNMI are no longer writing new coverage for taxicab vehicle policies or renewing expiring policies for taxi vehicles since January 2004.

Taxi operators are now preparing for the next step to ensure the swift passage of the measure. The group will lobby for the passage of the bill at the Senate.

Saipan City Taxi Association president Rabby Syed said the economics of the problem does not stop at the insurance policy issue of each taxi drivers but extends to their families as taxicab operators stop earning money due to their inability to insure their vehicle.

“We all need to go back to work and earn for our families. This is not only a business concern, this is about our families,” said Syed in an interview after the session held yesterday at the lower house.

He said taxi operators would now begin soliciting the support of all senators in preparation for the session slated Wednesday next week. “We are starting today up to the session next week. We would talk to them and get their support to make this happen. We need their help,” Syed stressed.

The bill got the nod of all representatives despite apprehensions of the Northern Marianas Insurance Association. But House Rep. Heinz Hofschneider insists that insurance coverage should be provided now to the taxi operators rather than wait for a multi-million litigation that may arise from an incident involving public transportation.

The passage of the measure would also empower the Insurance Commissioner to promulgate rules and regulations regarding assigned risk plan for motor vehicle liability insurance. Also, the lower house stressed the need to address other issues, including drug testing, uniformity of attire, among others.