Prolonged weekend leads to mass exodus<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The presidential decree declaring Nov. 14 and
\nNov. 15 public holidays for all government and private sector
\noffices, as well as schools, in Jakarta has sparked a mass exodus
\nfrom Jakarta to other cities and even other countries.<\/p>\n
Presidential Decree No. 74\/1994, signed by President Soeharto
\non Nov. 7, stated that the gathering of the 18 leaders of the
\nAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and their
\nactivities in Jakarta and Bogor on those two days will likely
\ncause \"extraordinary traffic congestions\" that will
\n\"inconvenience\" the public.<\/p>\n
Responding to the government decision, hundreds of thousands
\nof Jakartans have booked airline and train seats to go to their
\nfavorite holiday destinations such as Bali, Yogyakarta, Solo and
\nBandung as well as Singapore and Sydney.<\/p>\n
Ticket reservations department official of the national flag
\ncarrier, Garuda Indonesia, Agus Eko Putranto said on Saturday
\nthat air tickets for Singapore, Bali, Yogyakarta and Solo for
\nSaturday were already fully booked.<\/p>\n
The number of booked tickets jumped from those registered on
\nearlier days, he said.<\/p>\n
Agus said that on Saturday Garuda has four flights to
\nSingapore, of which two flights use the Air Bus-600 aircraft with
\na capacity of 225 seats, while the other two flights use the DC-
\n10 aircraft with 272 seats each.<\/p>\n
He said all seven flights for Saturday to Yogyakarta are
\nserved using Boeing 737-600 aircraft with a capacity of 104
\nseats.<\/p>\n
Agus said Garuda served eight flights to Bali on Saturday with
\na combined capacity of 2,068 seats while those to Solo, Central
\nJava, had 312 seats.<\/p>\n
He said there are four other domestic destinations such as
\nSurabaya, East Java; Medan, North Sumatera; Ujungpandang, South
\nSulawesi and Manado, North Sulawesi. Tickets to all those
\ndestination were nearly fully booked by city dwellers.<\/p>\n
Agus said Garuda's seats for two cities in Australia, Sydney
\nand Perth, were also nearly full.<\/p>\n
An official of the ticket sales department in Gambir train
\nstation, Central Jakarta, Amat Sukur Basuki said tickets for the
\nParahyangan train, plying the Bandung-Jakarta route, have been
\nbooked until Nov. 14.<\/p>\n
\"As Parahyangan's seats have been booked until Nov. 14, we are
\nselling tickets for standing passengers only,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Booked<\/p>\n
An official of the ticket sales department in Kota train
\nstation, West Jakarta, Bambang Budiono said tickets for the Bima
\nand Mutiara trains, plying the Surabaya-Jakarta routes, have been
\nbooked until Nov. 14.<\/p>\n
Kompas daily reported on Friday that the number of Jakartans
\ngoing out of town last weekend were estimated at two million.<\/p>\n
An employee of PT Carnation Tour and Travel, a travel agent in
\nJakarta, Restu Asdrianti, said the demand for train and airline
\ntickets for Bali, Yogyakarta, Solo, Semarang and Bandung has
\nrisen sharply since Nov. 11.<\/p>\n
\"All of them were sold out, there is nothing left,\" she said,
\nadding that most people who booked the train and air seats from
\nthe company were accompanied with return tickets.<\/p>\n
\"Most travelers are scheduled to come back on Nov. 15,\" Restu
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Chief of Jagorawi toll road, Adityawarman, predicted the
\nnumber of motorists who will use the Jagorawi toll road will not
\nbe as many as those on usual holidays.<\/p>\n
He predicted that motorists will avoid the roads as was urged
\nby Bogor Police chief Col. Syahrudin Z.P. (mas)<\/p>",
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