Long vacation not all fun for Jakartans as preparations poor<\/p>\n
Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Jakartans appreciated last week's four consecutive days off but
\nhave questioned the government's preparations to make the most
\nout of the long weekend in its efforts to boost domestic tourism.<\/p>\n
One major concern is how the government expects people to
\ntravel if tourism infrastructure is not conducive to taking a
\nproper vacation.<\/p>\n
\"My family and I tried to spend some relaxing time in Puncak,
\nbut traffic congestion was so horrifying that our vacation was no
\nfun,\" Benito, an employee of a private company, told The Jakarta
\nPost over the weekend.<\/p>\n
He said it took him about six hours to reach Puncak, a popular
\ntourist destination in West Java, whereas it normally took him
\nthree hours by car from his house in Tangerang, Banten province.<\/p>\n
The government should prevent such inconveniences from
\noccurring by preparing measures similar to those ahead of mudik
\n(the annual mass exodus ahead of the Idul Fitri holiday), he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Leni, an executive with a multinational company, beat the
\ntraffic by traveling early in the morning.<\/p>\n
\"On Thursday, I left Jakarta around 3:00 a.m. because it's the
\nonly way that I could reach Bandung fast enough without being
\ntrapped in a traffic jam,\" she said.<\/p>\n
She said the government should address the problem for
\nconvenience and so people relax while traveling. Moreover, it
\nwould encourage travel.<\/p>\n
Dian, an assistant for a senior economist, used her long
\nweekend to travel to Yogyakarta. She queried the point of
\nshifting holidays to make weekends longer if people could not
\ntravel due to terrible transportation facilities and
\naccessibility.<\/p>\n
\"It was hard to get a train ticket and it was obvious scalpers
\nwere taking advantage of the long weekend, and the authorities
\nseemed to do nothing to prevent this,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Such negligence would certainly discourage travel, leaving the
\nlong weekend worthless, whereas it supposedly could help the
\nsuffering tourist industry, especially people in the informal
\nsector, she said.<\/p>\n
\"I'd like to know whether the long weekend really helped
\ntourism. There should be a figure on that,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Those who stayed in the city had other issues to face, from
\nless customers to the envy of not having holidays like everyone
\nelse.<\/p>\n
Aji, a street vendor of fried food, said that during the
\nholiday, there were very few buyers around his usual spot in
\nPalmerah, Central Jakarta, and had moved to another location near
\na shopping center.<\/p>\n
\"I always manage to sell most of my food. But not today,\" he
\nsaid last Saturday.<\/p>\n
Dadang, a motorcycle taxi (ojek) driver, said the long weekend
\nhad impacted on his daily income due to a lack of customers,
\nsaying he hoped there would not be many long weekends this year.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Second Brig. Sunarto, a traffic police officer,
\nsaid the idea of a four-day holiday was naturally desirable.
\nHowever, he could not take it due to his police duty.<\/p>\n
\"I like to have holidays like everyone else with my family,
\nbut I could not leave my duty,\" said the father of four children.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/long-vacation-not-all-fun-for-jakartans-as-preparations-poor-1447893297",
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