‘Our cabs are safe, provide public service’

A leading manager for a local transportation company, Tropical Island, is strongly defending his operation in the face of criticism by Department of Commerce officials, saying his cars are safe and provide a valuable service to a community in dire need of an affordable way to travel on the island.

Commerce officials earlier this week said taxi services operating without approval from the department—which regulates taxi companies in the CNMI—pose a danger to passengers because they are skirting safety and insurance rules designed to protect passengers in the event of an accident. Among these companies, they said, is Tropical Island, which transports people as well as goods throughout Saipan.

Tropical Island was one of six companies cited by Commerce this year in letters urging them to conform to the department’s regulations. The other five shut down, yet Tropical Island has challenged the department’s enforcement effort with calls for a hearing on the issue.

In an interview Thursday, Tropical Island manager Joseph Sablan took issue with Commerce officials’ suggestion that his company’s cars may be unsafe or uninsured.

“We are insured,” Sablan said. “We have insurance for our drivers and everyone in the cars. Our cars are not a danger to anyone.”

Saipan’s lack of affordable public transportation and the high cost of regular taxi services, he said, prompted his company to begin operating on the island. Tropical Island, he noted, also provides jobs to people who need them.

“We’re only trying to fill a need,” he said. “There’s no public transportation for people to get around here. Saipan needs a cheaper form of transportation.”

Tropical Island chose to forgo abiding by Commerce’s regulations, he added, because of the high costs associated with the insurance requirements the department imposes.

However, Sablan said the company’s cars are registered locally and have passed safety inspections conducted by the Division of Motor Vehicles. Commerce’s enforcement effort, he added, has unfairly targeted Tropical Island while there are scores of unsafe and illegal taxi services roaming the island that may pose a real danger to consumers.

Sablan also faulted Commerce for being unresponsive when his company attempted to resolve the regulatory issues the department had presented to him.