Urbanites preparing the trip home for Idul Fitri holidays<\/p>\n
By Johannes Simbolon<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Mudik again! In a torrent, tens of millions of
\npeople from across the country and overseas will simultaneously
\npour into Java to celebrate Idul Fitri with their families.<\/p>\n
Java, the world's most populous island with 107.6 million
\npeople, will become more packed than usual.<\/p>\n
Many other ethnic groups have adopted the home-bound mudik
\ntradition, but it wouldn't be as dramatic without the 30-million
\nJavanese, who dominate the Indonesian population.<\/p>\n
Soon millions of people will leave Jakarta, like refugees
\nfleeing a war. Women and children will have to hustle and jostle
\nfor seats on buses and trains, being drag through the windows by
\ntheir men. Many people won't get home. They will be killed in
\ntraffic accidents.<\/p>\n
Preparation for these happy and unhappy events is now
\nunderway.<\/p>\n
Suminah from Surabaya, East Java, washes clothes for many
\nhouseholds on Jl. Mampang Prapatan in South Jakarta. She is now
\nbusy soliciting a loan from area residents by offering her
\nPolytron tape player as collateral.<\/p>\n
\"I bought this tape player half a year ago for Rp 500,000
\n(US$216). Please, lend me Rp 300,000. If I can't pay my debt, the
\ntape player is yours, Om (sir),\" she begged a couple weeks ago.<\/p>\n
Many people are ready to mortgage their belongings to gather
\nwith their families. Pawnshops record a 50 percent increase in
\nturnover each year before Idul Fitri holidays, said Kusprijono,
\nhead of the Jatinegara pawnshop in East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"Our turnover has risen by 15 percent although Idul Fitri is
\nstill some weeks ahead,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Muliadi, a satay seller from Surakarta, Central Java is lucky
\nto have befriended a jamu street-trader named Soleh from Cirebon
\nin West Java. As in the previous years, the 15,000 medicine
\ntraders in Greater Jakarta will be given free bus tickets as a
\nbonus by the Mustika Ratu and Sido Muncul jamu companies. Soleh
\nhas promised to get Muliadi a ticket.<\/p>\n
\"My family and I have returned home three times on free jamu
\ntickets,\" said Muliadi.<\/p>\n
Benny Hareguna, the national sales manager of the Jagaraga
\ndivision of jamu maker PT Mustika Ratu, said the free tickets
\nwere the company's way of showing its appreciation.<\/p>\n
\"We share profits with those who have also contributed to the
\ncompany's success,\" he said.<\/p>\n
This year, Mustika Ratu and Sido Muncul will respectively
\nprovide 40 and 120 buses to transport their traders home. They
\nwill leave from Central Jakarta, Tangerang, Bekasi, Cilegon,
\nSerang and Bogor. According to some jamu traders, the number is
\nmore than enough.<\/p>\n
\"Last year there were less buses, but some of the buses were
\nstill half empty,\" recalled Soleh.<\/p>\n
Traffic dystopia<\/p>\n
Between three and four million people will leave Greater
\nJakarta for their home villages in Central and East Java by
\ntrain, bus, plane and car. Most take the train and buses.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, some will end up killed in street accidents.<\/p>\n
Each year, while people happily prepare for their Idul Fitri
\ncelebrations, the West Java administration prepares 150 graves
\nfor homebound travelers killed in traffic accidents.<\/p>\n
The police, the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of
\nPublic Works and the state-owned toll road company Jasa Marga
\nhave just completed a week-long joint survey of the routes to
\nensure traffic is not horrendous.<\/p>\n
Half a million maps -- which clearly show danger areas, flood-
\nprone areas, how to escape traffic jams -- have been printed and
\nwill be distributed at toll gates, bus terminals and petrol
\nstations to drivers.<\/p>\n
The exodus will culminate seven days before Idul Fitri.
\nTravelers will trickle back to Jakarta and other big towns 10
\ndays after the holiday.<\/p>\n
At the peak, buses will only be allowed to travel on the north
\ncoast route, and trucks and trailers on the longer south coast
\nroute. Motorists are free to take either route.<\/p>\n
J.A. Barata, the spokesman for the Directorate of Land
\nTransportation, advises motorists to take the south route.<\/p>\n
\"The south coast route will entertain them with more beautiful
\nviews than in the north. They will be saved from possible traffic
\njams on the packed north coast route,\" he promised.<\/p>\n
Trucks and trailers were banned from the north route in 1992,
\nafter an overturned trailer caused a 36-hour traffic jam
\nthroughout Java in 1991.<\/p>\n
\"We don't want that to happen again,\" said Barata.<\/p>\n
Barata added that the government will also build temporary
\nposts along the roads for people to take a rest, ask for
\ninformation, take medication or drink free coffee.<\/p>\n
Tens of thousands of police will attempt to regulate the
\ntraffic.<\/p>\n
Last year, the police service was satisfactory, according Sri
\nHadianto, a worker of a private firm in Pulo Gadung, East
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
\"I saw there were police officers every 100 meters, especially
\nin Central Java. They were all helpful. Policemen were rare in
\nWest Java, from Jakarta to Cirebon,\" he recalled. Hadianto drives
\nhome every year.<\/p>\n
Bus companies were also happy last year because none of the
\npolice stopped their buses to extort the usual pungli bribe from
\nthe drivers.<\/p>\n
\"We thank the police because they didn't demand illegal money
\nduring last year's mudik,\" said Aip Syarifuddin, chief of the
\nCity Land Transportation Agency.<\/p>\n
\"Officials at bus terminals still coerced various levies from
\nthe bus drivers, though,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Buses<\/p>\n
The state railway company Perumka and all public bus companies
\nhave prepared for big push.<\/p>\n
Perumka's trains will be able to carry between 140,000 and
\n175,000 people a day from Greater Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The bus companies will deploy 49,000 buses, enough to carry
\nabout five million people.<\/p>\n
The bus companies are upset that government regulations
\npreventing them from profiting from mudik.<\/p>\n
The government has permitted them to only raise the fares by
\nup to 25 percent, but will allow them to cram 10 percent more
\npassengers into the buses. The bus firms claim the additional
\nincome from the fare hike won't cover the loss they will suffer
\nfrom having empty buses return to Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"Honestly speaking, we never profit during mudik,\" said
\nRusdianto, Jakarta's chief representative of the Timbul Jaya bus
\ncompany.<\/p>\n
Aip said homebound travelers are willing to pay higher bus
\nfares, provided that they can enjoy the trip.<\/p>\n
Each year, he said, many factory workers secretly charter
\nbuses from Central and East Java, although their fares are higher
\nthan permitted by the government. Their preference for chartered
\nbuses is understandable because the buses will pick them up at
\ntheir factories. If they travel on regular buses, they must first
\nget into bus terminals by buses, for which they pay some fares,
\nhe added.<\/p>\n
The bus firms refuse public charters in case the government
\naccuses them of breaking the fee ceiling.<\/p>\n
\"Under the charter scheme, the fare is based on the
\nnegotiation between the passengers and bus owners, not the
\ngovernment regulations. We want the government to allow us to
\ncarry people under the charter scheme,\" said Aip.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/urbanites-preparing-the-trip-home-for-idul-fitri-holidays-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}