Exodus expected to reach peak today<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The number of people joining the country's
\nannual Idul Fitri and Christmas holiday exodus kept increasing on
\nSaturday, and is expected to reach its peak on Sunday.<\/p>\n
On the Jakarta-Cikampek turnpike, West Java, the number of
\nvehicles using the road was expected to swell dramatically on
\nSunday.<\/p>\n
The head of Cikampek toll road operator PT Jasa Marga, A.D.
\nPanjaitan, said that the company should earn Rp 200 million from
\nthe 42,000 cars predicted to head for West, Central and East Java
\nusing the highway on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\"The number of people using the toll road, heading for this
\nyear's Idul Fitri, Christmas and New Year Eve holidays in their
\nhometowns, is about 10 percent more than last year,\" he said,
\nwithout elaborating.<\/p>\n
Traffic on the northern coastal lane (from Jakarta to West,
\nCentral and East Java areas) has been heavily congested with the
\nnumber of vehicles increasing intermittently. On Friday a 35-
\nkilometer line of vehicles, stretching from Cikopo to Pamanukan
\nin West Java, had to crawl along slowly.<\/p>\n
At the North Jakarta port of Tanjung Priok, a total of 2,687
\npassengers boarded three liners, cruising for Medan, Riau and
\nMakassar on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Head of the port's passenger terminal, A. Soetirto, said that
\nthe seaport encountered 5,108 passengers on the previous day,
\nmostly from areas in Sumatra, including Batam, Medan, Bintan and
\nKarimun Islands.<\/p>\n
\"Most of the passengers are Indonesian workers working
\noverseas who want to spend their holidays in their hometowns in
\nJava,\" Soetirto said.<\/p>\n
More than 10,000 passengers from Sumatra have disembarked at
\nthe port since the beginning of this month.<\/p>\n
The number of people traveling by ferry from Jakarta to
\nSumatra also multiplied on Saturday. The ferries sailing from
\nMerak port in Banten to Bakauheni in Lampung carried passengers
\nin excess of their capacity.<\/p>\n
Fierce competition among thousands of people, trying to board
\nthe ferries as early as they could, encouraged many of them to
\nembark without having purchased tickets.<\/p>\n
\"We lost some Rp 50 million on Friday night due to a large
\nnumber of passengers without tickets,\" an official at the Merak
\nport said, adding that the ferry porters had failed to control
\nthat many passengers one by one.<\/p>\n
In Semarang, two Navy war ships, Teluk Ende and Teluk Banten,
\nand three commercial ships, Sitiung Caraka Jaya, Irinawa, and
\nInaran, were deployed to anticipate an increase in sea passengers
\nat the Tanjung Emas port.<\/p>\n
The war ships, which can accommodate an average of 200
\npassengers each, would sail for Surabaya and Kumai, director of
\nthe Semarang branch office of PT Pelni Sri Suyatna said.<\/p>\n
\"The price of the war ship tickets are much lower than the
\nPelni ship,\" said Suyatna, citing that a passenger must pay only
\nRp 150,000 to go to Kumai, Central Kalimantan, from Semarang.<\/p>\n
In a related development, some 3,000 prospective passengers of
\nthe Kaligung train bound for Tegal had crowded the Poncol railway
\nstation in Semarang since Saturday noon, despite the fact that
\nthe train was not available until 4 p.m.<\/p>\n
An influx of people from Jakarta has also caused mayhem at the
\nTerboyo bus terminal.<\/p>\n
Thousands flocked to the Panaikang and Tamalate bus terminals
\nin Makassar on Saturday to take busses to their hometowns, but
\nmany of them could not get tickets.<\/p>\n
\"All the tickets were sold out about two weeks ago,\" a Bina
\nBakti bus conductor said at the Tamalate terminal.<\/p>\n
To help people who want to go to Surabaya and Jakarta, the
\ndirectorate general of sea transportation, in cooperation with
\nthe Navy, has made a war ship Teluk Mandar available.<\/p>\n
However, people seem to be reluctant to accept the offer,
\ndespite the ticket price being half that of the commercial
\nvessels operated by the state-owned PT Pelni.<\/p>\n
The Makassar-Jakarta tickets cost Rp 89,000 and Makassar-
\nSurabaya Rp 50,000, while children are charged only 10 percent of
\nthose fares.<\/p>\n
\"We prefer the Pelni ship to the war ship. We are just worried
\nthat the war ship could not give service similar to the Pelni
\nship,\" Sujatmo, who wanted to go to Surabaya with his family,
\nsaid at the Soekarno-Hatta seaport in Makassar.<\/p>\n
Accident<\/p>\n
In the Jambi province's capital of Jambi, four people were
\nkilled and six others injured after a passenger bus, plying the
\nJakarta-Medan route, plunged into a ravine on Friday when another
\ncar hit it from behind, a police officer said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Bungo Police Precinct chief Supt. Dadang Muharam said the bus
\nbelonging to PO Panca Orienta was stopping on the Sumatra Highway
\nin Bukit Apit village, Bungo regency, some 300 kilometers away
\nfrom Jambi when a speeding car hit the bus from behind.<\/p>\n
He did not have any idea what kind of car hit the bus, and
\nsaid there were no witnesses that could be questioned. \"The bus
\nmade a stop for driver substitution, while most of the passengers
\nwere asleep.\"<\/p>\n
Antara reported the four victims, all bus passengers, were
\nidentified as Lusiana Aritonga (65), Benna Hutagalung (35),
\nSusanto (9) and bus driver Tanui (40). They were all sent to the
\nBungo hospital.<\/p>\n
In the nearby town of Kendal a Garuda Mas bus full of people
\nfrom Jakarta hit a motorcycle carrying three people. Sgt. Sarjono
\nof the Kaliwungu Police sub-precinct said that the deceased were
\nidentified as Rois (21), Sulimin (31) and Manisah (33).<\/p>\n
According to Sarjono the bus driver is still at large.<\/p>\n
Another accident which claimed seven lives occurred in
\nKalianda, South Lampung, some 35 kilometers from Bakauheni, early
\non Saturday morning when two busses full of passengers collided.<\/p>\n
In the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar, all police officers
\nhave been prohibited from taking their leave for fear of possible
\ndisturbances during the holidays.<\/p>\n
Makassar Police chief Sr. Supt. Muhammad Amin said that all
\n1,328 officers must remain on call during the holidays. \"What
\nwould we do if something happens while many officers are off
\nduty. Public service is our priority.\"<\/p>\n
\"We have been launching special operations code-named Operasi
\nLilin and Operasi Ketupat during the Ramadhan fasting month. We
\nhope that everything is under control.\" (07\/27\/har\/jaw\/sur)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/exodus-expected-to-reach-peak-today-1447893297",
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