CABBIE takes tourist from Kgn to Negril without pay

Corporate Area taxi operator Anthony Mason recently decided to be a Good Samaritan and transported a Swiss national travelling from Kingston to Westmoreland without getting paid up front.

According to Mason, the woman approached him on Wednesday, April 21 and said she had been left stranded at the Norman Manley International Airport for four days after her ride didn’t show up. She offered him €350 (approximately J$64,000) to take her to a beach resort in Negril.

“The deal was that when I reach to Negril, I would get the money. Tru she tell mi say a €350 mi a say ‘Yea, she ago gimme fi true’. So mi just tek har word for it and believe in a weh she say because tru she white, mi a say she nah go wah go round mi like that,” he said.

Mason said that during the fourhour drive, he and the tourist even started to form a bond. However, after arriving at the location, he got the shock of his life when she told him that she could not find the man who she hoped would bail her out.

MAN NAME BARRY IS DEAD

“So when wi reach she start look fi a man name Barry but (she found out that) Barry dead, so she go to his wife name Elizabeth. She never have the money either so now nobody never deh fi pay mi,” he said.

Mason said Elizabeth suggested the tourist get a room at another resort, which she did, but the owner at that resort kept her passport as insurance. Despite being offered a room by the tourist, Mason, now fully skeptical, decided to sleep in his car.

“Wake up next morning and deh deh a easy. See har ina di afternoon dress up ina all white so mi ask har bout mi money and she say she ago circle the road and come back. She start make calls and link up wid people weh she know but nothing ‘bout my money all now,” he said.

Mason said that when the man who rented the room to the tourist found out that he had still not been paid, he advised him to report the matter to the Negril police.

“Di police dem tek mi statement, then follow mi over the beach where she was. She told the inspector that she was waiting on some money and then wrote a promisory letter,” he said.

“Di promisory note did state say she owe mi for a trip from Kingston to Negril and will pay mi back. She, myself and another witness signed it in front of the police. So mi used that fi say mi ago get back mi money one day.” Finally, on Saturday, May 1, he got a text from the woman to pick up the money at MoneyGram.

“(But) When mi go MoneyGram, mi name block. So mi go Half-Way Tree Police Station and explain the situation to them. One of the officer called the lady and told her to send the money through Western Union, which she did,” he said. When contacted by THE STAR, both police stations confirmed the incident. Although the experience was nerve-racking, Mason said that he would do it again.

“Mi have har number but mi don’t call har or antagonise. The most important thing why mi carry har go so far is that if she come back a Jamaica again, she can have me as a taxi man and tell a friend to tell a friend,” he

said.