City expects 1.2m exodus during Idul Fitri

City expects 1.2m exodus during Idul Fitri

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

City administration predicted on Monday that some 1.2 million
people would leave the city during next month of the Muslim
festivity of Idul Fitri, or locally known as Lebaran.

Head of the City Transportation Agency Rustam Effendy said
this year's number of exodus would increase compared to the last
December's Idul Fitri which reached 900,000 people.

"Different from last year which saw two lebaran, this year
will only see one Lebaran in December. If people decided to go to
their hometowns during lebaran then they can only do it during
the lebaran in December. That's why we predicted lebaran exodus
this year will increase," Rustam told reporters at the City Hall.

He added that most people who left Jakarta for their
hometowns during the first Lebaran in January, which saw an
exodus of 1.1 million people, did not do it again in the second
lebaran in December.

He said he cannot not predicted the number of people who would
come to the city after the festivities, but expecting that it
would be higher as happened in the past years. "They usually
bring their relatives, mostly for seeking jobs in the city," he
said.

Rustam said this year his office would prepare 6,066 buses, as
compared to 5,523 buses last year, in four regular inter-city bus
terminals: Kalideres in West Jakarta, Lebak Bulus in South
Jakarta, Pulo Gadung and Kampung Rambutan in East Jakarta.

He said some bus terminals were also prepared for additional
inter-city bus terminals, including in Senayan in Central
Jakarta, Grogol in West Jakarta and Rawamangun in East Jakarta.

Besides the buses, Rustam said the Indonesian Navy authority
had committed itself to providing navy ships for public
transportation.

"We would also use trains which could transport massive
people. We could use Sapu Jagat train," he added, referring to
the economic class train.

Asked about an additional increase of bus fare, which is
usually applied during the festivities, Rustam said his office
was still waiting for the central government's decision.

But he promised, once it was decided, the bus operators should
obey it or his office would revoke their permit if they violated
it. "I would not hesitate to revoke their permit if they increase
the fare higher than the government had decided," he
said.

The bus operators earlier threatened to go on strike if the
government did not increase the fare.