City, AAFES at odds over taxis at Camp Casey

[unhappycamper]

City, AAFES at odds over taxis at Camp Casey
By Erik Slavin and Hwang Hae-rym, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, June 15, 2008

CAMP CASEY, South Korea — The Camp Casey enclave’s taxi service has become the basis of a tug of war between a Dongducheon mayor’s angry constituents and military officials trying to provide reliable transportation for servicemembers.

Army and Air Force Exchange Service officials said Friday they still plan to have Kumkang Taxi fulfill its recently signed contract as the area’s primary provider, despite Mayor Oh Se-chang’s decision to order the taxis off the post after less than a day on Tuesday.

Kumkang signed on in the Camp Casey area to replace Worldcup Arirang Tourism Co., whose drivers had been on strike since April 18 throughout U.S. Army garrisons Red Cloud and Yongsan. Yongsan AAFES officials severed their contract with Worldcup Arirang on June 4, citing default on the contract. U.S. Army Garrison-Red Cloud, also known as Area I, did the same in May and gave the company until June 15 to leave its Camp Mobile office.

Kumkang taxis began picking up servicemembers Tuesday at Camp Casey and its outlying areas, only to be called back by the mayor because of an off-post taxi shortage.

"It was unfortunate because it seemed like the soldiers were ready for (the drivers) to take care of them," said Ken Limtiaco, Area I AAFES general manager.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=55560